Naruto: Addition to the 7th
by Subrosians
Summary: Kakamei Daichiki is added to the mix. He has come to Konoha from Sand Village. He has grown into a Shinobi ready to join the ranks of Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Is he strong enough to hang with Team 7? Why has he moved to the Leaf Village? Just how strong can he become? Find out in Naruto Addition to the 7th. Review/Follow/Favorite. Accepting OC's.
1. Naruto Oc

Name: Kakamei Daichiki

Age: 12-13 (Shippūden) AND 15-17 (Shippūden)

Species: Human

Gender: male

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Blood Type: B-

Birthday: 06/08

Personality: Independent in the sense of an introvert. He keeps to himself and softens up to others once they have become relatively "close". When he has a goal he shows a lot of determination and effort. Other than that he is laid back and goes with the flow. But just like everyone else he is always prepared for a fight.

Good Trait(s): Dependable,

Bad Trait(s): Lazy when not having any objectives.

Like(s): Girls, Lions, Dango

Dislike(s): Reading, Studying, Corn

Hobby(ies): Sleeping and Looking at girls

Fear(s): No Fear

Strength(s): Very Intelligent, Abnormal amount of Chakra, Great Physical Strength and Speed

Weakness(es): Terrible Chakra Control, Slow at infusing Chakra, laziness

Personal Quote: "Death? You're scared of death? It happens eventually so why be scared of it? Live like you're going to die and die like you're going to live."

History: He's a kid from Sunagakure who moved to Konoha at a young age. His parents were killed before he relocated to Konaha. Why did he move to Konoha? Why were his parents killed? Find out in the story:

 **Clan Info**

Clan Name: Daichiki Clan

Symbol:

Specialty: Wind, Fire, and Yang release

Kekkei Genkai: Scorch Release

Status: Dead

Clan Appearance

-Skin Tone: Slightly Dark

-Markings: Dragon Tattoo on back

-Hair color(s): Black

-Eye color(s): blue eyes

 **Looks and Appearance**

Body Type/Looks: Kakasmei has light brown skin. He has medium length black hair that reaches his ears and nearly covered his right eye. His eyes were big and dark red. He was wearing an all gray outfit. His jacket was long enough to reach his knees and his pants were also gray. He was wearing boots that had his gray pants tucked into them.

Height: 151 cm. (Pre-Shippūden) and 169 cm. (Shippūden)

Weight: 43.7 kg (Pre-Shippūden) and 51.7 kg (Shippūden)

Makeup/Facepaint: None

Hairstyle(s): Medium length black hair that touched his ears and covered his eyes

Accessories: None

Scent: Dense and Heavy

Scars or Tattoos: Unknown

Jewelry and/or Piercings: None

 **Relationships**

Parent(s): Dead

Sibling(s): Dead

Relative(s): Dead

Best Friend(s): Unknown

Friend(s): Team 7, Shikamaru

Sensei(s): Kakashi

Student(s):None

Crush(es)/Spouse/Bf/Gf: Unknown

Rival(s): Shikamaru(slightly), Sasuke, and Naruto

Enemy(ies): None

Pet(s): None

 **Favorites/Least Favorites**

Food(s): Dango

Drink(s): Water

Color(s): Black/ Grey

Season(s): Summer

Time of Day: Noon

Weather: Warm but not hot

Flower: None

Animal: Lions

 **Ninja Information**

Birth Village: Sunagakure/ The Hidden Sand Village

Current Village: Konohagakure/ The Hidden Leaf Village

Academy Graduation Age: 12

Chūnin Promotion Age: Not Promoted

Rank: Genin

Ninja Status: Genin

Bijuu [Tailed Beast]?: None

Teammates: Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi

Sensei: Kakashi

Nindo: None

Chakra Element: Fire, Wind, Yang, Scorch Release

Weapon(s): Unknown

Jutsu's

Too many

 **NINJA STATS**

 **1 - 5: Horrible**

 **6 - 8: Below average**

 **9 - 10: Average**

 **11 - 13: Above average**

 **14 - 16: Talented**

 **17 - 18: Gifted [This is Sannin level]**

Strength in Jutsu

Ninjutsu [ninja techniques]: 9

Genjutsu [illusion techniques]: 3

Taijutsu [martial arts techniques]: 10

Kekkei Genkai [bloodline traits]: 11

Doujutsu [eye techniques]: 0

Kinjutsu [forbidden techniques]: 0

Fuuinjutsu [sealing techniques]: 0

Strength in Missions

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 2

Strength: 9

Agility: 10

Dexterity: 11

Stamina: 15

Constitution: 7

Charisma: 8

Comeliness: 9

Chakra Control: 3

Cooperation:10


	2. Chapter 1

It was mid spring and the children of the leaf village were in class listening to Iruka-sensei dabble on about chakra. Naruto was sitting in class drawing on his paper. Sasuke was sitting back in his chair brooding. Sakura was sitting staring at Sasuke much like all the other girls in the classroom. Everyone was having a regular day before the door to the classroom swung open. Standing in the door was the the Third Hokage standing next to a small boy.

The boy had light brown skin. He had medium length black hair that reached his ears and nearly covered his right eye. His eyes were big and dark red. He was wearing an all gray outfit. His jacket was long enough to reach his knees and his pants were also gray. He was wearing boots that had his gray pants tucked into them. The boy looked slightly depressed. Sarutobi slightly pushes the kid into the class.

"Iruka this is your new student, Daichiki Kakamei. He's from the Sand Village. He will be joining the course from now on. Please teach him well, Iruka." Hiruzen said before turning around and walked out of the classroom closing the door behind him. Iruka turned to the boy.

"Hello Kakamei. You may pick a seat and sit there. We are going over the course of chakra. Please choose a seat." Iruka said as he pointed his hand to the row of seats. Kakamei walked to one of the empty seats on the front row and looked forward. The kids started to whisper along themselves.

"He's from a different village." and "He has weird clothes." was what some of the kids slightly said so the teacher could here them.

"Hey, that's enough. We have to get back to class." Iruka said as this made he kids silence and Iruka turned around and went back to teaching.

Years Later

The same kids that were sitting in that class were waiting for their Iruka-sensei to call their names.

"Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki... Sakura Haruno... Sasuke Uchiha and... Kakamei Daichiki." Iruka said. The class whispered to each other about the groups that had been chosen.

Ino stood up quickly.

"Iruka-sensei why does team seven have four members?" Ino asked. Iruka sighed.

"Well, Ms. Yamanaka, There are 28 students that passed so there has to be one team that has 4 members. We—" before he could finish his sentence he was cut off by the blonde haired, flamboyant protagonist.

"But, Iruka-sensei! Why does such a talented ninja like me have to be in the same group as that loser Sasuke." Naruto yelled. Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance. Kakamei sighed and looked at his new teammates. He had never had in crazy interactions with any of his team mates. He had sparred with Naruto and Sasuke during the matches in class. He had seen them sitting around the village only on occasions but never had the courage to go speak with them. Kamakei wasn't shy but he was sort of an introvert. He never really talked to anyone in the village since he had moved there years ago. He had never had a conversation with either of the boys and especially not Sakura. She was always to obsessed with her Sasuke to pay attention to him. Kakamei looked at his teammates. This was going to be a long day.

"That's because Sasuke had the best grades of all the graduating students. You, Naruto had the worst. To balance out the teams we put the worst student with the best student." Iruka said. There was chuckling.

"But why is Kakamei in that group. He wasn't the worst student." Ino said. Iruka was started to sigh.

"Kakamei had results that put him directly in the middle of the class. Lord Hokage made the decision to put him in Team 7. If you have any problems with it you may go talk to the Hokage about it.

"Just make sure you don't on my way, loser." Sasuke said loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"What was that?!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke ignored the knucklehead ninja. Iruka cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"After lunch, you will meet your new Jounin-senseis. Until then class is dismissed."Iruka said. And with that everyone in the class left. Sasuke had left to find a place to eat by himself. Sakura, as usual, was with a group of girls who were looking to eat lunch with Sasuke. Even Naruto had disappeared. Kakamei had no reason to speak to them so he went to the Dango shop.

He sat down and ordered. He ordered three sticks. He was sitting down eating as he heard noise coming through. It was Shikamaru. He walked in and saw Kakamei.

"Hey, Kakamei. You're eating by yourself as always. You never seem to have anyone to sit with." Shikamaru said as he walked into the seat in front of Kakamei. Kakamei looked up and saw his "friend" Shikamaru.

"You know I'm not really one to sit around with others. I'd rather be alone than with others." Kakamei said as he smiled to welcome Shikamaru. A waitress came to take his order but waved his hand.

"I'm not going to be long. I have to go meet my new teacher." Shikamaru said. The waitress nodded as she walked away. Kakamei watched the nurse.

"So, you have Sakura and Sasuke in the same team." Shikamaru said. Kakamei swallowed the dumpling in his mouth. He looked as if he was in thought.

"Yeah, I'm afraid that she will be fangirling the entire time and we won't get anything done. But I can't judge them until we have a mission. You have Choji and Ino on your squad. Choji seems reasonable but Ino doesn't seem like the nicest person under the sun." Kakamei said. Shikamaru chuckled.

"Yeah, she doesn't does she. Seems like a drag. I just want to get it over with." Shikamaru said. Kakamei smiled and put the last dumpling in his mouth. He finished chewing the dumpling and swallowed it. He stood up and Shikamaru followed. He threw away his plate and they walked out of the restaurant.

"What do you think your first mission will be like?" Kakamei asked his buddy. Shikamaru shrugged.

"We're only a couple of genin so it can't be anything too serious. It would be a real drag if it is something really important." Shikamaru complained. Kakamei smiled as he thought about how Shikamaru was always complaining.

"You're always complaining. Even during shougi you complain about how too much work it is." Kakamei joked as Shikamaru looked slightly annoyed.

"It doesn't happen with everyone. You are one of the only people that makes me rethink so many times. Do you remember the first time we played shogi?" Shikamaru said as he thought back to the first game they ever played.

It was years ago. Kakamei was sitting at a park table by himself. He was sitting in front of a game board with pieces moved around. It was a two person game but only one person sitting. He had moved to pieces by himself. He was playing by himself.

As he was thinking about what his next move could be a kid and his father were walking by. It was a tall man with long, spiky hair that was sticking out in a bun. Beside him a little boy looked just like him was walking. They saw the boy sitting there by himself playing. The man and boy noticed Kakamei sitting by himself but tried to ignore him. After they were far enough away the man's child asked his father a question.

"Hey, dad, that kid back there was playing shogi. He's in my class at the academy." The kid said. His dad nodded.

"Can I go play with him?" The kid asked. The dad shook his head.

"We're busy now, Shikamaru. But, if he's still sitting by himself when we come back you can play with him." The kid's father said. The kid now known as Shikamaru nodded.

Hours passed by when Shikamaru and his father, Shikaku, walked back through the park to see the kid still sitting playing by himself. The sun was setting as Shikamaru tugged on his father's shirt. Shikaku nodded his head with a slight smile.

'The kid has been sitting out here for hours. We were gone for hours… and there's no telling how long he was out here before we found him. I wonder if his parents are worried about him.' Shikaku thought to himself as he gestured towards the kid sitting down. Shikamaru raced towards the walked to the park bench. Shikaku slowly walked behind him.

When Shikamaru was at the table he looked at Kakamei. The kid playing shougi was so focused on the game that he didn't notice the boy sitting next to him. Shikamaru waved his hand in his face and the kid looked up quickly.

"Hey, you're playing by yourself and I was wondering if I could play with you." Shikamaru asked the boy. Kakamei looked surprised that someone had approached him.

"Sure." Kakamei said enthusiastically. Shikamaru reset the pieces he was going to use. Shikaku walked up to the table and watched as the two set up their pieces.

"I hope you're a good player 'cause if you aren't then I'll beat you in a landslide." Shikamaru said as Kakamei smiled.

"Well, I play by myself all the time so I don't really know if I'm decent." Kakamei answered the prodigy as Shikamaru laughed.

"Let's find out how good you are." Shikamaru said as he moved his piece. Kakamei moved his piece just as fast. They both started moving pieces along the board. Eventually they started to slow. Shikamaru sat thinking as Kakamei just silently smiled to himself. Shikamaru looked up and saw this.

"So what are you smiling about?" Shikamaru asked as Kakamei asked himself the same question.

"If I had to answer I would say that I've never had the chance to play with someone else." Kakamei answered. Shikamaru looked confused.

"Your parents or siblings don't play with you?" Shikamaru asked. Kakamei shook his head.

"I can't play with them. My parents are dead and so are my siblings. So I only play with myself." Kakamei said. That made Shikamaru slightly awkward before going back to his calm self.

"Well, that's bad but i guess you can't help it. Let's finish the game." The young prodigy said.

They played until late when the sun was setting. Shikaku started to yawn as he saw that both of the boys were still playing like they had just sat down. He sighed and started walking away.

"Shikamaru, come home when you're down. I'll be heading home now." Shikaku said before walking away. Shikamaru was still concentrated on the game as was Kakamei. Shikaku walked home.

Eventually Shikamaru started yawing. He dropped down his final piece and said, "I won." Kakamei sighed in irritation.

"Do you know how long we've been playing? For hours! I don't think I've won a game yet!" Kakamei yelled as Shikamaru laughed.

"Yeah well, it's been fun but I have to go now. It was fun. Maybe we should play again sometime." Shikamaru said as he got out of his chair. Kakamei smiled and started getting out of his chair. Shikamaru turned to walk home and put his hand up to signal goodbye. Kakamei walked away. When Kakamei walked inside the apartment that he had been given by the village. He closed the door behind him and leaned his back on the door. He grabbed his heart and gripped his shirt tightly. His eyes watered slightly.

"It hurts. So bad." He said to himself. He was talking about his heart. He hadn't had fun since he had made it to the village. He fell to his knees before standing back up. His eyes had a look of slight depression.

"I haven't felt emotions like this in years. Can I really get stronger? Or do I have to run away?" Kakamei asked himself. He wiped the tears from his eyes and walked to his bed. He took his shoes off and sat there for a second thinking to himself.

"No, I have to stay here. I can feel it in my very being." Kakamei said as he smiled devilishly. "Yes I can feel the potential for growth here… STRENGTH!" Kakamei said as drooled wipes down his face and laid down on his bed.

"But for now I have to find a way to grow stronger in the academy. Hopefully I'm not wasting time." Kakamei said before falling to sleep.

Present Time

"Yeah, hahaha we played all night long. It was the first time in a long time that I had fun. Now we're full Genin going to meet our new senseis. They stood in front of the academy and walked in. Kakamei started to break away from his 'friend' and walked up the stairs.

"Alright, I'll see you later." Kakamei said as he waved his hand in the air and walked to his respective classroom. Kakamei waved his hand to signal goodbye.

When he made it upstairs and to his meeting place he opened the door expecting to see his sensei waiting for him. Instead he opened the door to see his teammates sitting around waiting. Naruto was sitting on the row table. Sasuke was standing to himself and Sakura was standing in the middle of the floor.

'So Kakashi-sensei hasn't arrived.' Kakamei thought to himself as he walked in silently.

"Hey, Kakamei you made it." Naruto said as he looked at Kakamei. The black haired Daichiki boy. Kakamei looked surprised because he had never had a conversation with Naruto. He decided to speak instead of ignoring him.

"They told us to be here so I had to show up." Kakamei said as he sat down in a chair. Naruto was slightly excited because someone was actually willing to have a conversation other than ignoring him.

"I think this Kakashi guy will get here soon since he's a Jonin." Naruto said as Kakamei nodded.

"Hopefully." Kakamei said as he leaned back in his chair. Sakura didn't speak but slightly seemed interested in the conversation.

'I've never really heard Kakamei talk so much. Even during class he barely talks. Maybe he's just not good in a class setting.' Sakura said as Naruto looked at the time.

"I hope he comes soon or I'll die of boredom." Naruto said as Kakamei chuckled. Sasuke just stood in the stood in the corner brooding as he usually did.

2 Hours Later

Naruto was looking out of the door down the hallway.

"Oh Naruto sit down." Sakura ordered the blonde haired boy. He popped his head back in the room.

"I don't want to. How come our teacher's the only one that's late. I'm ready to roll. Every other team has met their squad leader and took off on some crazy adventures. Even Iruka-sensei has left too." Naruto complained.

"We know already." Sakura said as Naruto started rumbling around the door.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" Sakura asked him.

"That's what he gets for being late. That's what he gets for being late." Naruto said.

"You know you're not supposed to do things like that." Sakura said to Naruto naggingly.

'Cha! I love things like this!' Sakura screamed in her head. Kakamei opened one of his eyes and looked at what was happening. Even Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at what the knucklehead ninja had to say.

"You can't be serious. He's a Jonin. Something like this could never fool him." Sasuke said as the door started to move and Kakashi walked through. The eraser that was positioned in the door fell onto Kakashi's head. Naruto burst out laughing.

'This guy's a Jonin?' Sasuke said to himself. Kakamei shook his head.

'Cha that was great!' Sakura's double personality screamed.

"Hahahahaha. You fell for it!" Naruto laughed as Kakashi sighed.

"Let me see… my first impression of you is that you're all idiots." Kakashi said. Sweat fell from the Genin's head.

"Meet me at the roof in five minutes." Kakashi-sensei said before proofing into smoke. Kakamei sighed and let his seat down. He stood up and passed Naruto.

"Not gonna lie. That wasn't what I was expecting." Kakamei said. Everyone else started walking out.

"I'll say." Sasuke said as they made their way to the rooftop.

5 Minutes Later

Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakamei were sitting in a row as Kakashi was sitting across from them.

"Alright, we'll start by introducing ourselves." Kakashi said. The group was confused.

"Introduce ourselves? What are supposed to say?" Sakura asked. Kakashi thought for a quick second before answering.

"Ya know, things you like, hate, future goals, hobbies, things like that." Kakashi answered as he gave the floor back to the Genin.

"Maybe, you should go first? To make sure we know what to do." Naruto said still confused about what was happening.

"Me? My name is Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… well, I don't really want to tell you that. My dreams for the future? I never really thought about it. And as for hobbies? I have lots of hobbies." Kakashi finished.

'He didn't really tell us anything other than his name.' Sakura thought to herself.

"Now that you have an idea of what you are supposed to do Naruto you go first." Kakashi said as Naruto lit up in excitement.

"Yeah! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at Ichiraku's. But I really hate the three minutes you have to wait when you pour the hot water in the cup. My hobbies are collecting different types of ramen and comparing them. And my dream from the future is to be the greatest Hokage. Then the village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody! Believe it!" Naruto said. Kakamei looked surprised. He had heard Naruto scream it but he never thought he was serious. Naruto's goal was similar to his.

"Now for you Sakura." Kakashi pointed at Sakura. She became flustered.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like to (giggling squeals)... I mean who I like is (giggling squeals)... my dream for the future is (giggling squeals)... my hobbies (more giggling squeals…" Sakura girlishly said barely getting words out as she was completely infatuated with the idea of Sasuke.

"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked. Sakura wet silent of giggling and became somewhat annoyed.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Narut gasped in surprise as Kakamei just smiled.

"It's like she is in her own little bubble where nothing but Sasuke exists." Kakamei said to himself as Sakura caught wind of this.

"What did you say?!" Sakura yelled as Kakamei just leaned back. "Nothing." He replied as Kakashi pointed at Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't seem to have any emotions but answered the question.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone." Sasuke finished.

Everyone went silent as they all were equally surprised by the answer except Kakamei. Kakamei was too busy thinking of what he was going to say.

'As I expected.' Kakashi said to himself as he pointed at Kakamei finally.

"And last but not least Kakamei. Introduce yourself." Kakashi said as Kakamei sat up and looked at the sky.

"My name is Kakamei Daichiki. I like sweet tea, dango, and training. I hate pickles, the cold, and weakness in power. My hobbies are training and sleeping. And my future goal is to be the strongest ninja ever. To stand on top of everyone." Kakamei answered. Naruto and Sakura looked surprised. They looked at Kakamei. They had heard him speak before but not this much. Even when he spoke he never talked about himself. They didn't even know a single thing that Kakamei had said.

'Interesting.' Kakashi saidin his mind as he looked at Kakamei.

"Good. You are all unique and have your own ideas. We will have our first mission tomorrow." Kakashi said. Naruto jumped up quickly.

"What mission are we taking on Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto asked frantically. Kakashi looked at the blonde haired boy.

"It's a task the five of us will do together. A survival exercise." Kakashi said as Sakura and Naruto looked confused.

"I thought we were going to have an actual mission. We did all the exercises at the Academy!" Sakura said. Naruto was jumped up.

"Yeah. And what exercise is it then?" Naruto asked his sensei. Instead of a straightforward answer he received a chuckle.

"If I tell you the answer you won't like it." Kakashi said before pausing to regain his composure.

"Out of the 28 students that graduated this year only nine or ten will actually become Genin. The others will be weeded out and will be sent back to the Academy. In other words this is a pass-or-fail test, and the chance of you failing is 66%." Kakashi said. Naruto and Sakura shrieked in surprise while Sasuke stiffened and Kakamei looked surprised at the fact that he could be sent back to the village.

"I told you you wouldn't like it." Kakashi said

"That's crazy! So what was the graduation test for anyways?!" Naruto yelled. Kakamei was sitting next to Naruto so he put his finger in his ear.

"That was just to select candidates who might become Genin… or not. In any case, be at the training ground number three at 5:00 A.M. sharp. Don't forget to bring your ninja gear. Oh, and I suggest that you shouldn't eat breakfast. If you do you'll puke." Kakashi said as he pooped away once again and left his soon-to-be students.

Kakamei jumped up and started to walk away. Sakura turned a yelled "See you tomorrow!" Kakamei didn't say anything back but did his usual goodbye of raising his right hand in the air and walking away.


	3. Chapter 2

5 o'clock came faster than Kakamei could have guessed. His alarm went off in his little apartment. He reached from under his covers and slammed his hand on everything near him until he slammed onto the alarm. He let off a deep "UGH!" He sat on the side of his bed and wiped the crust out of his eyes.

"We have a survival exercise today. He told us not to eat but I'll take the risk. If I don't eat I'm gonna pass out before I even make it to the training ground." Kakamei said to himself as he stood and did his morning routine. He brushed his teeth, took a shower, and ate breakfast. Just in case his friends had skipped breakfast he grabbed a black bag, a couple of apples and walked out of the door.

As he was walking through the village he saw that most of the people in the village were setting up shop for the day. He walked through the streets and came to the training site. He saw all three of his teammates standing around sleeping, sulking, or standing warily.

Kakamei took a seat on the ground and started to wait just like the others.

"He probably won't be as late as he was yesterday." Sakura said. Naruto nodded his head.

After 20 minutes of waiting Kakamei laid back onto the ground and fell asleep. Sakura and Naruto stood over him.

"How can he sleep? Kakashi could be here any minute." Sakura said as Naruto nodded in agreement. After another 30 minutes of waiting Sakura had sat down and Naruto started to jump in excitement.

"You can't be serious! We have been here for almost an hour!" Naruto yelled as Kakamei woke up from all the noise Naruto was making.

"What time is it?" Kakamei asked as he stood up to see Kakashi walking to the group. Sakura stood to her feet. Kakashi stopped is front of the group.

"Good morning, everyone. Ready for the exercise?" Kakashi said as Naruto started barking angrily.

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura yelled as he just closed his eyes in a smiling face.

"See, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." Kakashi said, dismissing himself for being late. He cleared his throat to get ready to speak.

"Now let's get started. This alarm is set to noon. Your assignment is simple. You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you don't get one by noon you won't get lunch. You will be tied to those post and watch me eat my lunch in front of you." Kakashi said. Sasuke's eye twitched with annoyance. Naruto's stomach rumbles as Sakura felt slightly angry that she didn't even eat dinner, let alone breakfast.

Kakamei remember he had brought them a few apples. He reached into his bag and tossed each of them an apple. Kakashi saw this and was intrigued. They all caught an apple happily.

"Thanks, Kakamei! You're a real life saver." Naruto said. Even Sasuke his ate the apple.

"Hey, Kakamei." Kakashi said, catching the black haired boy's attention.

"Yes?" Kakamei asked as he closed his bag and stood up.

"I told you not to eat breakfast. Why did you bring food for everyone?" Kakashi asked as Kakamei stood up and slung the bag across his back.

"Well, if I remember correctly you said that this was a survival exercise. One of the main components of survival is food. Also, if you are hungry how can you move at your best?" Kakamei said as he looked at his teammates who were finishing their apples.

"Alright, very good. You have the right idea." Kakashi said. Sakura looked at the bells.

"But Kakashi-sensei, there are only three bells. How are we supposed to get one bell each if there are four of us?" Sakura asked.

"That way at least one of you will be tied to the post and disqualified, and sent to the academy for failing the mission. But, it's a possibility that all four of you will fail if you don't my get a bell. You may use any weapon. Shuriken, kunai, anything you can think of. If you're not prepared to kill me you won't be able to take a bell." Kakashi said suavely as his students readied themselves.

"Those weapons are too dangerous! Sensei!" Sakura said as Kakamei stopped her.

"Especially since you couldn't catch that eraser. Hahaha." Naruto joking told his sensei.

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. Ignore the ones with the lowest scores for they are probably losers." Kakashi said. That comment made Naruto angry.

"When I say start you may be–" Kakashi Tried to say before he was cut off by a loud roar front the blonde Shinobi. Naruto grabbed a kunai out of his ouch and went to slice Kakashi. In an instant Naruto had one hand behind his head.

"Don't be in such a hurry." Kakashi said. All the other Genins took a step back before Kakashi let Naruto go.

"You came at me with the full intent to destroy me. How can I say this?... I'm actually starting to like you guys. Now if you're ready… go!" Kakashi said as his students jumped away.

Sasuke was hiding in a tree that wasn't too far away from Sakura who was lying in a bush. Kakamei was sitting on top of a tree.

"A ninja must be able to hide his presence and hide effectively. Seems like most of them have that down." Kakashi said as he looked to his left to see Naruto standing right in front of him.

"You and me right now, fair and square!" Naruto yelled challenging Kakashi flat out. Kakashi looked at Naruto.

"You know, compares to the others your kind of weird." Kakashi said. Naruto sprinted towards Kakashi.

"The only thing weird is your haircut." Naruto said. Kakashi lowered his eye and stood up straight. He reached into his pouch.

"Shinobi Battle Techniques , Lesson Number 1: Taijutsu." Kakashi said. Naruto jumped backwards.

'Taijutsu is hand to hand combat. So why is he grabbing for his weapons?" Naruto asked himself as Kakashi pulled his hand out of his pouch with a book in hand.

'He's really going to read during this. Kakashi-sensei is very confident.' Kakamei thought to himself.

"What's wrong? Weren't you going to attack me?" Kakashi jokingly said. Naruto looked confused.

"But… I mean… why are you reading that book?" Naruto asked his sensei.

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course. With your weak attacks it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or whatever." Kakashi said. This made Naruto angry. He started rushing towards Kakashi.

"I'm going to pummel you!" Naruto yelled as he threw a kick at Kakashi as he simply ducked the kick. Naruto then went for a punch but Kakashi vanished. Naruto looked around searching for his teacher.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time." Kakashi said as he formed a hand sign. Sakura gasped as she saw her sensei seemingly getting ready to destroy his student. Kakamei was watching.

"Oh great." Kakamei said as he jumped off the top of the tree and landed in front of Kakashi. He pushed Naruto back with his foot and started weaving hand signs.

"Wind Release: Gale Bullet!" Kakamei said launching a huge gust of wind out of his mouth. Kakashi jumped out of the way fast enough to dodge the jutsu. The wind hit the ground creating a decent sized hole in the ground. Kakamei jumped backwards and looked for Kakashi. Naruto stumbled backwards before regaining his composure. He walked to Kakamei with a smile on his face.

"Thanks man. I could have died if you hadn't saved me. Haha" Naruto said scratching the back of his head. Kakamei turned and looked at his teammate with a straight, sort of clueless, face.

"Yeah, no problem." Kakamei said as he walked past Naruto.

"We still have to get a bell. You can go and fight him again but I'm going to wait some more." Kakamei said before jumping away. Before he leapt off of the ground Naruto felt a slight heat hit him. Kakamei disappeared into the bushes.

"Whatever," Naruto said to himself, "I'm going to give it another shot." He walked away looking for his sensei. Kakashi was sitting on a tree branch read Make Out Paradise. Naruto spotted him and pointed at his sensei.

"There you are Kakashi-sensei! Come down here and fight me!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke was watching in the bushes becoming annoyed by Naruto's arrogance. Sakura, who wasn't too far away, was also watching and shaking her head.

'He's a Jounin. I highly doubt Naruto could take him on by himself. He's just going to get beaten again." Sakura thought to herself as Naruto continued to angrily yell at Kakashi.

"Come down Kakashi-sensei! Fight me right now!" Naruto said as the silver haired teacher just continued to read his book. Naruto growled and charged at the tree.

"If you won't come down here I'll just go up there." Naruto said. As he was watching Sasuke prepared himself to attack.

Naruto was rushing to the tree before he looked down to see a silver, shiny thing blurring his vision. He looked down to see a bell. Naruto walked over to pick up the bell but he felt a tugging on his leg and before he could realize it he was dangling upside down from a tree.

"Aahhhhh! Get me down from here." Naruto yelled.

"If the bait is obvious don't take it. Nina's must see through deception." Kakashi said. Naruto was still dangling from the rope. He was jumping around trying to get out of the trap.

"I… get… it!" Naruto said annoyed by the fact that he was still having to hear that same spiel over and over again.

"I'm telling you this because you don't get it. You think you get it which is different from actually getting it. Get it." Kakashi said.

As Kakashi was giving telling Naruto off Sasuke was watching and put his hands into his pouch. 'Now!" He yelled to himself and threw shuriken and at Kakashi all which seemingly hit.

With a yell he fell to the ground and Naruto started to freak. "He just got blasted with shuriken! Are you out of your mind Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled.

'He's a Jonin. I doubt a couple of shuriken and kunai will kill him.' Kakamei thought to himself as he jumped down from his tree.

Naruto was still freaking out as Kakashi's body poofed into a log. Naruto looked surprised as Sasuke started to jump from tree to tree trying to find a new positioning.

"Another substitution jutsu. Now he knows where I'm hiding. Gotta to move fast." Sasuke said to himself as he jumped from tree to tree. Kakashi, who was hiding in the bushes, was now watching as his student was running to find another hiding spot.

'So, that's where you were.' Kakashi said as he watched Sasuke maneuver through the branches. He reached into his back pocket.

As Sakura was running through the forest she frantically worried herself for the sake of 'her Sasuke'. She bolted thinking quickly as she saw Kakashi standing there reading his book.

"Thank goodness he's there." She said. Just as she let out a sigh of relief She heard a whispering voice behind her. She turned to see Kakashi kneeling behind her. Sakura screamed loud enough for everybody on the training ground could hear her.

A tree with a squirming boy

Naruto was still trying to get down from the tree as he angrily talked to himself about Kakashi repeating the same thing over and over again.

"A ninja must see through deception." Naruto said in a mocking voice.

"Yeah, yeah how am I supposed to do that anyways?!" Naruto said angrily as he took a kunai out of his bag.

"Well, I'm not falling for any more of his tricks." Naruto said before slicing the rope in half and falling to the ground. He landed on his feet before taking a step and his leg being caught in another rope. He flew up into the air and started dangling from the tree once again.

"I fell for the stupid trick again!" Naruto screamed. He was going to keep barking loudly as he heard rustling in the bushes and prepared his weapon for Kakashi to walk out and attack him. Instead he saw his fellow Team 7 member Kakamei. Naruto perked up at the chance of someone helping him down.

"Hey, Kakamei. I'm stuck. Do you mind helping me out?" Naruto asked. Kakamei just looked up and started laughing. Naruto looked slightly angry at Kakamei.

"What's so funny?!" Naruto yelled as this made Kakamei laugh even harder. Naruto let out a grunt as Kakamei stopped laughing and looked at Naruto.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Naruto said as Kakamei wipes a tear from his eye.

"Sure." Kakamei said before taking a kunai and throwing it at Naruto's rope. Naruto fell to the ground and landed on his back. He got up and looked at Kakamei.

"Thanks. But why are you all the way out here?" Naruto asked. Kakashi was deep in the forest probably playing with Sakura.

"I'm all the way out here because I thought you needed help. I'm going to try and get a bell by myself. If I don't end up getting a bell I might need some help on the second try." Kakamei said. Naruto shrugged and threw a thumbs up at Kakamei.

"Yeah, I'll help. But, I saw something while I was up there that I need to go check." Naruto said. Kakamei nodded and started to walk away. Naruto turned around and started walking towards the post, laughing maniacally. Kakamei ignored and jumped into the trees to find Kakashi.

Kakamei was rushing through the leaves as he stopped and watched the Sasuke fight. Sasuke did a combo on Kakashi creative enough to catch Kakashi off guard and touch the bell. Kakashi jumped backwards. He watched as Sasuke quickly wove hand signs.

"Fire Release: Fire Ball Jutsu l!" Sasuke yelled seemingly catching Kakashi off guard once again. Sasuke took a deep breath and blew a relatively large fireball towards Kakashi. Kakamei took note of this as Sasuke let the jutsu go off and looked around for Kakashi. In an instant Kakashi's gripped Sasuke's ankle and pulled him underground. Kakashi squatted in front of Sasuke, looking quite amused.

"... You know they say the nail that sticks up the most get hammered down. Now if you'll excuse me I have another one of your teammates to deal with." Kakashi said as he looked at Kakamei who was quite surprised by the fact that Kakashi had found out where he was hiding. The Daichiki kid let this go and jumped out of the tree. He landed behind Kakashi and looked over the side to see Sasuke's head poking out of the ground. He chuckled a little bit which annoyed Sasuke.

"Yo, Kakashi-sensei. I've been waiting to get my chance to fight you." Kakamei said as Kakashi just shook his head and turned to look at his student.

"You can't defeat me." Kakashi said as Kakamei just shrugged. He got into a fighting stance and got ready to attack Kakashi. Kakamei jumped at Kakashi and waited for Kakashi to act in some way but Kakashi simply said "Stop." Kakamei heard this and stopped abruptly which made him land on his face. He stood up quickly.

"Is there something the matter?" Kakamei asked his sensei. Kakashi turned around and jumped into one of the trees.

"Follow me." Kakashi said as he jumped through the trees. Kakamei reluctantly followed. Before he could jump he stopped himself and looked at Sasuke.

"I'll come dig you up when I get a bell." Kakamei said as he jumped forward, following Kakashi. Sasuke rolled his eyes. A couple seconds later Sakura came running through the bushes. With very few words exchanged Sakura went into a panic attack.

In The Woods

Kakashi landed on the ground with Kakamei landing soon after. Kakamei walked forward and stopped a couple of meters in front of Kakashi.

"So Kakashi-sensei, what are we doing all the way out here? We could have fought right where we were standing." Kakamei said trying to find a method behind Kakashi's madness. Kakashi made an eye smile.

"Well, it's for tell reasons. One, Sasuke was in the ground and I put him down there for a reason. The second reason I brought you here is to test something I have been wondering." Kakashi said. Kakamei was curious about what Kakashi was going on about but he didn't have time for it. The time to get a bell was almost up. Kakashi started to make hand signs. Kakashi finished the last sign.

"Wind Release: Water Bullet Technique!" Kakashi yelled. Kakamei dodged the attack by jumping into the air. While floating in the air Kakamei wove hand signs and created an air bullet that rushed towards Kakashi. In that instant Kakashi jumped into the air and slammed Kakamei onto the ground. Kakamei landed on the moist ground. Kakashi landed on the ground and looked at his student. Kakashi raised his hand and stuck it inside his weapon pouch and one again pulled out his Make Out Paradise book.

Kakamei became annoyed by this and jumped at Kakashi. He went for a kick to the left of Kakashi's head but the Jonin simply ducked. Kakamei used the momentum he had created and swung his body making his hands swing in a tornado type manner. Kakashi jumped out of the way. Kakamei landed on the ground and took another stab at Kakashi. Kakamei jumped at and tried to land a punch on his chest but Kakashi simply raised his left hand, his right being the one holding the book, and caught the punch. Kakamei jumped in the air and went for a a kick that would land on Kakashi's temple. Kakashi jumped behind him and flicked him in the back of the head. Kakamei grabbed the back of his head. He turned to Kakashi only to turn to see his teacher had disappeared. Kakamei sighed.

"We were just getting to the good part." Kakamei thought out loud as he started walking towards the training place.

At the Memorial

Naruto was sitting on the K.I.A. memorial. Wit chopsticks in hand he bowed his head and prepared to dig in to his meal.

"Sensei told us if we don't get a bell then we don't get any lunch but if I eat my lunch now there's nothing he can do about it. It's chiu time! Hahaha." Naruto said aloud as he started to open the boxed lunch. Before he could get the lid off he felt a cold chill go down his spine.

"Hi there." A voice said beside him as Naruto felt as if he was going to be sick.

"I was just joking sensei." Naruto tried to say but Kakashi wasn't buying it with only a response of, "Nice try."

Somewhere in the Forest

Sasuke was sitting in the ground as he was thinking

about his fight with Kakashi.

'He's stronger than me. No getting over that.' Sasuke thought to himself as bushes rustled and his teammate came rushing through the forest. Sakura looked down to see her love interest on the ground. The genjutsu That Kakashi has put her under had already put her to her breaking point as she completely pooped out and fell over to the ground. Sasuke was slightly annoyed.

"And this is my partner." Sasuke said aloud as seconds katera Kakamei emerged from the woods and looked down at Sasuke. He cracked a smiled as he looked as the number one rated Genin had everything but his body submerged underground. He bursted out laughing and pointed at Sasuke.

"You're still down there. Hahaha. I thought you would be out by now." Kakamei said as Sasuke looked annoyed by Kakamei's laughing. He rolled his eyes before trying to maneuver his way out.

"Just get me out of here." Sasuke said as Kakamei silently laughed as he pulled Sasuke out of the ground by his head. Sasuke landed on his feet and wiped his shirt. Kakamei ceased to laugh and he walked over to Sakura, who had passed out on the ground.

Kakamei and Sasuke looked over her. Sasuke started to shake her body as she slowly woke up. Sakura's eyes opened as she saw Kakamei and Sasuke standing over her. She gasped and said. "Sasuke, you're okay." Before jumping into his arms. She pushed him around.

"Hey! Get off me!" Sasuke said trying to pry the girl off of him. Kakamei just looked in confusion. Sakura let go and Sasuke stood up before turning his back on Sakura. He started to walk away.

"I've got to get a bell before lunch. That doesn't leave much time." Sasuke said. Sakura looked worried.

"Sasuke you're still trying to get one of those bells?" Sakura asked as she really wanted Sasuke to stay. Kakamei just watched in the background as he watched the conversation continue.

"A while ago I touched one. Next time, I'll get one." Sasuke said as Sakura just looked surprised. She clasped her hands together and looked at her crush.

"That's great. I can't believe you did that. That's amazing." Sakura said patronizingly as in her head she had the complete opposite thoughts going on. 'I can't believe it he touched on of the bells. I'll never get my hands on one of those things. Which means Sasuke will pass and I won't and we will be separated forever. NO NO NO NO NO!' She yelled inside her head as she kept a calm exterior.

"It's almost lunch. There's really not enough time, so maybe we should just give up and try again next year." Sakura said as Sasuke let out a grunt that surprised Sakura as well as Kakamei.

Sasuke stood in thought as he thought back to something personal.

"I am the only one who can destroy that certain person." Sasuke said mysteriously. Sakura was surprised. Kakamei just sighed and started walking back to where the squad was supposed to meet.

"What?" Sakura said silently as she looked at Sasuke, "You mean the sensei?"

That day… I was crying." Sasuke said as Sakura had now accepted the conversation and started to become uneasy by how Sasuke was talking.

"When were you crying?" Sakura question.

"That day… it was my—" Sasuke was going to say before he stopped talking.

"What? What happened to you?" Sakura asked.

"I am an avenger. That means I must be stronger than my prey. I need this training. There's no time for setbacks." Sasuke said as Sakura remembered what Sasuke had said back when they first met Kakashi and were introducing themselves. Just as Sakura was thinking to herself, she was cut off by the ringing of the timer that Kakashi had set. Sasuke grunted.

"I've wasted too much time." Sasuke said before turning around and walking back to the meeting ground. Sakura stood in question of what Sasuke had just said.

At the Wooden Posts

The possible Team Seven wrapped around each other with their sensei standing in front of them. Sasuke was sitting down to the left of the post. Kakamei was sitting on top of the middle post. To the right of the post Sakura was sitting down ready for what Kakashi had to say. And in the middle of his three teammates, Naruto Uzumaki was tied in the middle. He had an ashamed looked as his stomach grumbled, catching the attention of all of his teammates.

"When you said you had something you wanted to check out I didn't think this was what you had planned out." Kakamei said looking down on Naruto.

"Whatever. I was just hungry." Naruto said as another stomach growl made Naruto drop his head in defeat.

"Uh oh. Stomachs growling huh? That's too bad. And oh about this exercise, well, I've decided I'm not going to send any of you back to the academy." Kakashi said as this seemingly raised everyone's spirits with the exception of Sasuke. Naruto cheered loudly.

"What? I passed? All I did was pass out and fall over. Do you get points for that?" Sakura questioned as once again her mind was singing a different tune. 'Love wins out! Cha Cha Cha!' Sakura said in her mind. Kakamei grinned widely as he thought he had finally earned the rank of ninja. Even Sasuke cracked a slight smile in the corner of the group.

Sakura jumped up and Naruto attempted to be excited as much as he could while still being confined to the wooden post.

"Then then then… that means all four of us…" Naruto yelled as Kakashi made a slight eye smile and started to talk.

"Yes, all four of you are being dropped from the program… permanently" Kakashi said as that statement put a damper on everyone's mood. All the aspiring Genin gasped as they heard those words utter from Kakashi's mouth.

"Drop us from the program ?! That means we can never become ninja!" Naruto yelled as he kicked to get out of the ropes.

"You said if we couldn't take back the bells then you would send us back to the academy. You can't just change up all the rules and kick us out! Why would you do that!?" Naruto yelled out in rebellion trying to struggle free from the ropes.

"Because you don't think like ninja. Our think like little kids, brats." Kakashi states. As soon as Kakashi finished that sentence Sasuke jumped out of his position and charged at Kakashi. In an instant Kakashi had Sasuke face flat on the ground with his arms behind his back and his foot on Sasuke's head.

"You think it's all about you." Kakashi said. His foot being on Sasuke's head triggered her as anger tears started running down her face.

"Get off of Sasuke! You can't step on him like he's some sort of bug!" Sakura yelled.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja. You think it's a game. Huh?" Kakashi asked getting the attention of all four members.

"Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?"Kakashi asked.

"I don't know what you mean." Sakura said as Kakashi answered quickly.

"I mean you never realized what this exercise was all about. Not even close." Kakashi said as Naruto made a sour face.

"What it's about?" Naruto asked as Kakamei jumped down from the top of the wood post and dropped down next to Naruto.

"Yes, that determines whether you pass or fail." Kakashi said fiercely as Sakura started to say something.

"But, I wanted to ask you about that since the beginning." Sakura asked as Kakashi simply scoffed at the remark.

"Use your head. Four people on a squad. Why do you think we would do that?" Kakashi asked. Everyone but Naruto remained silent.

"Ahhh! How are we supposed to know why you picked four people? We didn't make the rules." Naruto yelled as Kakashi became annoyed by what Naruto had just said. It was so simple.

"It's so basic. Teamwork." Kakashi said as all of Team 7 were shocked by the answer.

"You mean by working together?" Sakura asked her sensei.

"Yep, that's what I mean. It's too late now but if all four of you had come at me at the same time you may have had a chance to actually get a bell. Well, anyway, it's over." Kakashi said. Just as he was saying that as Sakura thought of something that bothered her.

"Wait a minute. You set it up with four people but only three bells. If we worked together to get the bells only three of us would be able to keep them and that would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up." Sakura complained. Kakashi didn't seem impressed but instead more intent on getting his point across.

"Exactly. I purposely pitted you against each other. I wanted to see if you could overcome me and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A Genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. You… it never even crossed your mind." Kakashi said. His students lowered their head as they listened to their sensei tell them off.

"Sakura!" Kakashi yelled getting the girls attention, "you obsessed over Sasuke who was gone while Naruto and Kakamei were right in front of you and you wouldn't lend a finger to help him. Naruto! You do everything on your own. Everything!" Kakashi said this and got Naruto's attention. Even making the boy look to the ground in shame.

"Kakamei! You thought you were strong enough to get one by yourself so you disregarded your teammates like they were useless!" Kakashi said. This got Kakamei's attention as he looked at his sensei, ashamed by the fact that what Kakashi was saying was true.

"And you, Sasuke! You thought the others were so far beneath you that they were worthless." Kakashi said pushing Sasuke's head deeper into the ground.

"Arrogance. Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course you need individual skills but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad this can lead to failure and death. For example…" Kakashi said reaching into his pouch and grabbing a kunai knife. He put the kunai up to Sasuke's neck.

"Sakura, kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies!" Kakashi said surprising all of his students. Sakura gasped as Naruto started to struggle as he wanted to get away from the situation.

Kakashi pulled back the kunai and started to get get off of Sasuke.

"That's what happens on a mission." Kakashi said. Sakura felt relief.

"Oh boy that was scary." Sakura said as Naruto let out a sigh. Kakashi spun the kunai in his hand.

"The enemy takes a hostage and you have to make an impossible choice. And someone ends up dead. On every mission your life is on the line." Kakashi said as he caught the kunai and placed it back into his pouch.

Kakashi rose off of Sasuke and turned his back on his students and started to walk off. Sasuke slowly stood up off the ground and walked back to his teammates.

"Did you look at this stone? The names engraved into it?" Kakashi asked as his students took notice.

"They are all ninja who are all honored as heroes in our village." Kakashi states as Naruto perked up at the sound of what his sensei just said.

"That's it! That's it! That's it! Now I know. I've decided that I'm going to have my name engraved on that stone. I'm not gonna live and die like a dog for nothing. I'm gonna be a hero! A hero!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke walked right next to his tied up teammate and turned around to his teacher.

"These are a special type of heroes." Kakashi said solemnly as he looked onto the stone.

"Ouuu ouuu what type of heroes?!" Naruto asked excitedly as Kakashi halted himself before answering.

"They were all K.I.A." Kakashi said. Naruto seemed to be all too happy about this.

"Ouuu that sounds cool." Naruto said as Kakamei sighed and put his hand on his temple.

"It means they were killed in action." Sakura told Naruto. This automatically put a damper on Naruto's mood as he went silent after hearing that.

"This is a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends are engraved on it." Kakashi said. This put all of Team 7 in a silent state for a second. Kakashi looked at the stone before turning around and looking at his team.

"Alright, I'll give you a second chance. But I'm not going to go easy on you. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat now to rebuild your strength. But Naruto doesn't get any. It's your punishment for trying to eat early. And if anyone tries to feed him they will be disqualified immediately." Naruto growled at this comment as he was probably the hungriest of them all.

"Listen, I make the rules you follow them. Got it? I'm leaving." Kakashi said before puffing into a cloud of smoke and disappearing.

Minutes later all of Team 7's Genin except Naruto we're eating their boxed lunches. As they were eating they heard a growl as Naruto was standing above them watching them consume their lunch.

"This is no big deal! I can with not eating for days! Weeks! Believe it!" Naruto yelled. His teammates watched as Naruto's stomach growled again and the energetic blonde boy quieted down. After a few seconds Sasuke reached out his lunch box to Naruto.

"Here eat." Sasuke said trying to give Naruto his lunch.

"But Sasuke! You can't do that. You heard Kakashi sensei." Sakura said concerned for Sasuke's choice.

"We need to get the bells as a team. If Naruto is hungry he will be slow and ineffective." Kakamei watched from the background before looking at Naruto. He raised his lunch as well.

"I already ate breakfast so I'm not as hungry as you are so here." Kakamei said before attempting to give Naruto his lunch. Naruto looked at his two male teammates with slightly confusion. Then Sakura lifted her lunch at Naruto.

"Sasuke's right. Here." Sakura said holding out her hands and Naruto looked as if he was about to tear up.

"But, Sakura you—" Naruto tried to say as he was cut off by the pink haired kunoichi.

"I'm on diet. I mean don't eat as much as Sasuke or Kakamei. Here take it before Kakashi-sensei comes back." Sakura rushes Naruto. The jinchūriki looked as if he was going to cry.

"Hurry before Kakashi comes back." Sasuke urged as Sakura pushed the box forward.

"I can't move my arms! You're going to have to feed me." Naruto said which made Sakura visibly unnerved.

"What!?" Sakura yelled as Sasuke rushed them. Sakura let out a frustrating sigh.

"Fine. But this is a one time thing! Got it?!" Sakura yelled as Naruto looked ecstatic.

"As clear as bell Sakura." Naruto said as Sakura fed Naruto some rice.

Just then there was a loud boom and their master appeared.

"You!" Kakashi yelled. This surprised all of the students. Strong winds blew everywhere. Naruto was rushing to get out of the ropes. Sakura was struggling stand up right and Kakamei and Sasuke covered their faces.

"You broke the rules. I hope your ready for the punishment." Kakashi said as he wove hand signs and storm clouds arose in the sky.

"Any last words?" Kakashi asked as the entire team thought they were facing ultimate destruction. Naruto was freaking out and scrambling to find a way out of the bind. Sakura even had her hands atop her head to shield herself from whatever punishment Kakashi was going to give.

"But you said…" Naruto started saying before his speech dwindling.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked trying to pry out what Naruto had to say.

"But you said that we were all a team! That's what you said. That's why… Sakura…" Naruto said. Kakamei noticed that Naruto was out of words.

"You said that we had to work as a team. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link so it only makes sense to give Naruto food!" Kakamei yelled trying to scream above the winds that were pushing against him.

"We're all in this together." Sasuke said as Sakura chirped in a "Yeah! We have our lunch to him because the four of us are one!" to go with the others. Naruto finally had the courage to say something.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Believe it! That's right!" Naruto yelled while kicking his legs around in the air.

"The four of you are one. That's your excuse?" Kakashi asked as he got in the four students face. All the student looked as if they were on the defensive as Kakashi struck a smile.

"You pass." Kakashi said as Sakura and Naruto said "Huh?"

"You pass." Kakashi reiterated as Sakura asked another question.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked as Kakashi stood over them.

"You're the first squad that ever succeeded. The others did exactly as I said and fell into ever trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception." Kakashi said as he stood up straight and looked at his new students.

"In the ninja world those who break the rules are scum. That is true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." Kakashi said looking out into the open sky. All the Genin smiled as Naruto looked as if he was going to cry.

"Ya know, *sniff sniff*, he's a pretty cool guy." Naruto said barely able to hold himself together.

"The exercise is over! Everyone passes. Team 7 starts their first mission tomorrow!" Kakashi said while moving in a wild motion and making very gallant manner. The four Genin celebrated as they were now full fledged ninja.

"Yeah! Yeah! I did it! Ive become a full fledged ninja!" Naruto yelled. Kakamei was now standing as he smiled that he had finally become a genin.

"Let's go home." Kakashi said as he turned and walked back towards the village. Everyone but Naruto followed after him.

"They do this every time! Believe it! They forgot to untie me!" Naruto yelled as his comrades who were walking away still. Kakamei and Sasuke were turned and still walking away.

"Should we go back and help him?" Kakamei asked. Sasuke shook his head.

"Nah let's just leave him for a while." Sasuke said as everyone kept walking off.

"Come get me!" Naruto yelled.


	4. Chapter 3

In a forest in Konoha, all of Team 7's members were positioned "Sasuke, I'm at point B." Sasuke said through a microphone.

"Sakura, I'm at point C." Sakura said.

"Kakamei, I'm at point D." Kakamei said. There was a silence as they waited for Naruto.

"Naruto, I'm at point A. Believe it!!" Naruto yelled.

"You're slow, Naruto. Ok Team 7, get ready to move." Kakashi said suspensefully. A black figure jumped through the bushes.

"The target has moved, follow it." Kakashi ordered as the four genin moved through the terrain to keep up with the moving target. They moved, like normal ninja, to stay unnoticed by the beast they were trying to get the one up on.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked as Kakamei looked at the animal.

"About 4 meters." Kakamei said as Naruto became inpatient.

"Kakashi-sensei just give us the order. I'm ready. Just give us the signal." Naruto said through the speaker as everyone listened to Naruto.

"I'm ready too." Sasuke said.

"So am I." Sakura said. Kakamei looked around and watched his surroundings."

"I'm ready." Kakamei said.

"Very well… Go!!" Kakashi yelled as all the members of Team 7 jumped out of the bushes and attempted to subdue the monster.

Naruto was the member to grab hold of the beast.

"I got you!" Naruto yelled as he was holding a cat that was trying is hardest to get out of Naruto's grasp. The cat let out a loud shrieking sound as it started to scratch Naruto.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakamei watched as Naruto struggled to keep the cat in his hands. Kakamei saw this and picked the animal out of Naruto's hands. He rubbed against its back and the animal calmed down. Naruto stood up off the ground and looked at Kakamei.

"Wow, you're really good with animals. Sakura said as Kakamei shook his head.

"Nah, I just have a good streak with cats I guess." Kakamei said as he looked at Sasuke giving Kakashi the run down of the mission. Naruto was standing by himself as he took a huge deep breath.

"Can't we have a real mission for once!!! I seriously hate cats!" Naruto yelled as everyone with a headphone in heard this loud and clear. Kakamei punched Naruto in the head.

"Stop yelling like that!! If you do it again I'll go deaf!" Kakamei yelled.

Later In the Hokage's Office

"Oh, my little cute Tora-chan! Mommy was so worried about you, but it's okay now. Mommy's here now and she will never let you go!" The woman said as she was nearly strangling the cat to death.

'Haha. Stupid cat. That kitty deserves to be strangled.' Naruto thought to himself as Kakamei just shook his head in the background.

"I see you have accomplished your mission." Sarutobi said as he got the attention of the ninja squad.

"We have a couple requests that Team 7 can handle. Helping an old lady with her shopping, babysitting the grandson of an elderly man, painting the fence—" The Hokage tried to say as he was cut off by Naruto.

"No! I want a serious mission. Something challenging and exciting! Not this little kid stuff." Naruto yelled as everyone in the room look slightly annoyed.

'The bad thing is he has a point." Sasuke thought to himself.

'He's such a pain.' Sakura thought.

'I knew this was going to happen sooner or later.' Kakashi thought as he shook his head.

Kakamei didn't think anything as he just stood there with his hands behind his head. Iruka stood from his chair and looked angrily at Naruto.

"How dare you! Idiot! You're just a fresh Genin with absolutely no experience! Like everyone else, you start with simple missions to develop and prove their skills! You're in no position to order around the Hokage!" Iruka yelled. Naruto just got even more loud.

"Are you serious?! Babysitting is not a mission! I'm a ninja and I—" Naruto tried to say before Kakashi punches him in his temple making him fall to the ground.

"Can you please shut up Naruto?" Kakashi said in his usual slow voice. Naruto sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Naruto, it seems you don't understand the tasks you have been given." Hiruzen said. He started to give an extra long explanation of how the ninja ranking systems were set up. As he came to a conclusion he looked at Team 7. He saw that they weren't listening to a word he said.

"I had some nice Dango last night. It was a different flavor than—" Kakamei was saying as he cut off by Sarutobi's yelling.

"Hey, Listen to me when I'm talking to you!" Sarutobi yelled as he caught the attention of the team.

"You're always lecturing me as if you're my grandfather or something! I'm not the little brat that used to do pranks. I'm a ninja now and I want an actual ninja mission!" Naruto said as he crossed his arms and poured, only willing to budge if the Hokage gave him what he wanted. The Iruka and Hiruzen started chuckling.

"Naruto wants to prove that he's no longer a brat but a former brat. So be it. I will give you a C-rank mission. You will be bodyguards on a journey." The Hokage said as Naruto jumped up in the air. Everyone but Kakashi looked surprised.

"Really?! Who are we guarding?! A princess? An important councilor!?" Naruto said both loudly and excitedly.

'I hope so. I need a refresher from all the cat catching assignments.' Kakamei thought to himself.

"Do be so impatient. I'll bring him in right now." He looked to his left and told his secretary to, "Bring in the special guest." The secretary nodded before going to a door and opened it to show an old man with a bottle of liquor in hand. He was drinking it sloppily.

As expected Naruto didn't exactly like this too much.

"What the…? A bunch snot-nosed brats?" The old drunkard said. He seemed tipsy by the redness of his face.

"And you, the little one with the idiotic look on his face, do you really expect me to believe that your s ninja?" The man said. Naruto laughed at the joke.

"Who's the one with the idiotic look on his face?" Naruto asked as his teammates stood next to him. Sasuke and Kakamei were relatively the same height. Sakura was slightly beneath them with Naruto being the shortest. Noticing this Naruto tried to jump at the man as he was held back by Kakashi.

"I'll demolish you! Let me get him! Come here!" Naruto yelled as he tried to jump at him.

"You can't destroy the client, Naruto." Kakashi said as the man looked at the pipsqueak.

"My name is Tazuna, master bridge builder. I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our lives. So I expect you to get me to my destination safely. Even if it means giving up your lives." The man now known as Tazuna.

At the comment everyone dispersed and readied themselves for their next mission.

The Next Day

Morning came quickly as Kakamei rose from his bed and wiped his eyes. He stood up and walked to his refrigerator and opened it. He reached in and grabbed the milk. He grabbed a bowl and cereal and sat down to eat breakfast.

He poured his breakfast and ate silently. He put on his clothes gathered his supplies he would need for the trip and walked to the outside of his apartment. He closed and locked the door behind him and stood up in front of his door. He softly slapped his face to wake himself up.

"Time to start out first 'real mission'. Hopefully we get some strong ones to fight." Kakamei said before walking down the hall.

Ten minutes later Kakamei was among the rest of his team at the gates of the village.

"Yeahhh!" Naruto yelled as he jumped through the gates looking and bouncing around like a rabbit.

"Naruto, why are you so excited?" Sakura asked as Naruto looked around.

"Because this is the first time I've ever left the village. I'm a traveler now! Believe it!" Naruto yelled. He looked at Kakamei who was behind him with his hands behind his head.

"Hey, Kakamei, you used to live in the Village Hidden in the Sand. How is it like outside of the village? Are there a lot of scary, strong ninja out there?" Naruto asked as Kakamei looked at Naruto.

"Like you said, before I came here I lived in the Sand Village. I was merely a child when I came to the Leaf but I specifically remember one person who would would make me feel great when we were together. Other than that there were multiple strong people but there were only a few that were anything special." Kakamei said. Naruto looked surprised. Then he went close to Kakamei's ear.

"Someone made you feel great huh?" Naruto teased as Kakamei slightly blushed.

"No! It was a guy. When we would fight I could feel that we were fighting for existence. It made me feel… alive." Kakamei said as Naruto backed off. He was taken aback by the way his teammate had answered. He never heard Kakamei speak like that before.

Tazuna snorted as he heard these two talking.

"Am I supposed to trust my life with this runt? He a joke!" Tazuna said. These words rang in Naruto's head.

Don't worry Tazuna. He's with me and I'm a Jonin." Kakashi said with a slight smile.

"Hey, never insult a ninja because it's a terrible mistake!" Naruto yelled trying to fight back Tazuna's words.

"I'm one of the greatest ninja ever! Someday I'll become Hokage and then you'll have no choice but to stop looking down on me. My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Never forget it!" Naruto yelled. Tazuna simply scoffed it off.

'I don't know about the greatest ninja EVER. I'm still here.' Kakamei said as he chuckled. Naruto turned to see Kakamei smiling and became slightly annoyed.

"Oh, and what are you laughing at Kakamei!" Naruto said loudly as Kakamei just shrugged.

"Nothing. Just thinking of a joke." Kakamei said. Naruto looked annoyed as Tazuna started his rebuttal.

"The Hokage is powerful and wise. You are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage I'll grow wings and fly." Tazuna said. This obviously made Naruto angry as he turned back to the bridge builder.

"Shut up!! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage! Anything! Then everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja in the village, even you!!" Naruto yelled. Tazuna ignored the outburst and answered normally.

"You could become Hokage ten times over and to me you'd still be a nobody, a loser." Tazuna said as he turned around to make his back face Naruto.

Naruto attempted to jump at Tazuna but Kakashi held him back. Then, after Naruto had calmed himself, the group started the mission by leaving the gates of the village.

Hours Later

The group of shinobi were walking down a path. Everyone was walking silently as they were waiting for ninja to attack them. To break the silence Sakura posed a question

"Mr Tazuna?" Sakura said, getting the attention of everyone.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You're country is the Land of Waves, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" Tazuna rudely replied as he kept walking. Sakura faces Kakashi as she was puzzled about something pertaining the mission.

"Kakashi-sensei, there are ninja that live in the Land of Waves, right?" Sakura asked. Kakashi was interested that his student actually wanted to know what was happening in the world.

"No, actually. There are no ninja in the Land of Waves." Kakashi said. He went on to explain the reasonings of why certain villages had ninja while others didn't.

"... the Hokage, The Mizukage, The Tsuchikage,He Raikage, and the Kazekage. These are the leaders, the five shadows that reign over thousands of ninja." Kakashi said as the genin thought skeptically.

"Woah, so the Hokage is very important." Sakura said.

'Yeah, right. I caught him with my sex jutsu. He can't be that strong.' Naruto thought to himself.

'Cha! is that old man really such a big deal?!? I'm not buying it!!' Sakura thought to herself. Even Kakamei thought about 'ole' Hiruzen.

'If he's that strong then I'll just have to up and beat him.' Kakamei thought. Seconds later the three were halted as they felt a strong feeling of fear come over them.

"You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you?! That's what you were thinking, huh?!" Kakashi said loudly. Naruto and Sakura shook their heads as Kakamei kept his cool as to not let Kakashi know what he was thinking.

"That's good to know. Anyways, you shouldn't worry. There aren't going to be any foreign ninja in a C-rank mission." Kakashi said as Sakura sighed as they continued to walk forward.

Not too long after, the group of travelers passed a bridge as they passed a puddle of water on the ground. While the others paid it no mind Kakashi looked at it quickly before changing his gaze. They continued walking as they heard a snap. Kakamei turned around to see his Kakashi-sensei wrapped in chains. In an instant the chains tightened and Kakashi was split in two.

Out of the shadows came two ninja in all black clothing with both having mechanic arms with chains connecting the two's arms.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. The enemy ninja jumped in front of Naruto.

"Don't worry, you're next!" The ninja said as they laughed evilly. Naruto looked at the ninja, frozen with fear. He looked as if he wanted to move but he just… couldn't.

'Why… Why can't I move?! They're going to kill me! Damn it Naruto! Move!! Move!!' Naruto yelled to himself in his mind as he stayed still, unable to make his body move.

'You have to be kidding me!' Kakamei thought to himself as he and Sasuke moved forward quickly. Sasuke grabbed kunai and shuriken out of his pouch and threw them. The shuriken pushed against the middle of the chain while the kunai jabbed between the shuriken which forced the chain against a tree. While Sasuke kicked their heads together Kakamei pulled Naruto out of the way.

Kakamei jumped in the air and hit a flip. His foot hit one of the assassins in the temple of their head forcing them onto the ground. The other shinobi rushed around straight for the bridge builder. Before he could get completely there Sakura jumped in front of Tazuna.

'I've got to do something!' Sakura thought to herself. Just then Sasuke jumped in front of Sakura as to help protect her.

In the chaos of it all there was a loud bang. Sasuke looked up to see Kakashi standing in front of him with both ninja in his arms.

"Hello there." Kakashi simply said as he had an eye smile on his… eye (I guess).

"Kakashi-sensei is alive!!" Sakura yelled loudly. Sasuke lowered his guard and let off a scoff. "Show off."

Kakamei put his hands behind his head and walked to Naruto. Naruto was speechless as he thought of a way to rationalize what had just happened.

"But… Kakashi-sensei was…" tried to say before looking behind his back to see the Kakashi's 'body' that had been split in half had become nothing more than a pile of wood.

"Substitution Jutsu." Naruto said as he understood what had just happened.

"Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't help you sooner. I didn't mean for you to get hurt," Kakashi said, "I simply didn't think you would freeze up like that. Sasuke, Kakamei, good job. Very smooth. You too, Sakura."

'I was useless! No! Worse than useless! Sasuke and Kakamei acted so cool, like they've done it a thousand times! So calm! They didn't even get a single scratch! Kakamei even had to save me! Why can't I keep up?! Why are they so much better than me?!' Naruto asked himself as he looked at Kakamei.

Kakamei nonchalantly looked at Naruto. His hands were behind his head so he just raised his eyebrows quickly to signify that he it wasn't that serious. Kakamei turned his back as Sasuke was next.

"Hey, Naruto." Sasuke said as Naruto turned his head.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked.

"You're not hurt, are you? Scaredy cat." Sasuke said which got Naruto's blood boiling. He went to jump at Sasuke yelling his rival's name before Kakashi butted in.

"Naruto!" Kakashi said getting the attention of the blonde genin. Naruto stopped in his tracks.

"We need to take care of the wound on your hand. Those ninja had poison on their claws. Try not to move or you'll spread the poison." Kakashi said. Naruto looked down at his hand to see a small cut on his hand.

"Naruto. You got hurt?" Kakamei asked. Naruto looked at his teammate.

'I could have sworn that I made sure that he didn't get touched. I need to be more careful.' Kakamei thought to himself.

"By the way… Mr. Tazuna." Kakamei said as he looked at the client.

"Y-Yeah?" Tazuna said, worried of what the ninja was about to ask him.

"After I finish off these two, we need to talk." Kakashi said sternly.

Minutes later the two ninja were tied to a tree. The traveling group was standing around them.

"They're shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist. They're trained to keep fighting no matter the cost." Kakashi said as he looked at the two pursuers.

"How did you know of our attack?" One of the Mist Village ninja asked.

"A puddle, on a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks? I found that odd." Kakashi said as Tazuna seemed slightly confused.

"So, why did you leave it for the genin to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked as Kakashi looked at him with a certain look.

"I could have taken them out easily but then I would have learned nothing. I had to know who they were after." Kakashi explained. Tazuna looked suspicious of what the silver haired ninja was trying to get at.

"So What are you saying?" Tazuna said.

"I wanted to know whether they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or after the man we were protecting. When you were putting in your request you asked for standard protection in case you encountered robbers and thieves. But, you never said anything about ninja attacking. That alone makes this a B-ranked mission, maybe even an A. Our task was to simply get you to your destination and protect you while you complete your bridge. If we knew that we would encounter enemy shinobi we would have labeled it a B-rank and charged you for it. As of now this is beyond the scope of the mission." Kakashi stated. Tazuna lowered his head. Kakamei walked away from the enemy ninja and looked at Tazuna.

"You have Chunin after you, from the Village Hidden in the Mist no less. You must have done something crazy to get these ninja after you." Kakamei said as Tazuna looked up. Sakura attempted to comfort him.

"We're only genin. This is too advanced for our level of training. Besides, we really need to check Naruto's hand and get the poison out as fast as possible. We can take him to a doctor at the village." Sakura said trying to get everyone in the 'right' mindset.

"Naruto's hand could become a problem. I guess we have no choice but to go back to the village." Kakashi said agreeing with Sakura. Just then the blonde haired genin stabbed himself in the had before anyone could make any real decision. Everyone looked at the boy who now had a kunai sticking out of his hand.

"Why?! Why am I so different?! I worked so hard to get here! Pushing myself until it hurt! Training for hours! Anything to get stronger, to reach my dream! I will never back down again and I will never let anyone else rescue me again. I will not run away and I won't lose to Sasuke or Kakamei. Upon this wound I make this pledge! Bridge builder I will complete this mission and protect you with this kunai. I real ninja never gives up and neither will I. Don't you worry about me guys. I'll be just fine. Let's go!!" Naruto said as everyone stayed silent for a second.

"Naruto, that was cool and all but if you lose any more blood you're going to die." Kakashi said as Naruto looked at his hand and felt a lot of worry and regret for stabbing himself.

"Whhhhaaaaa!!! No! No! No! I can't die yet! I'm too young to die!!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi casually held out his hand.

"Give me your hand." Kakashi said as he put his hand in Kakashi's.

Kakamei was in the background with a huge grin as he looked at his teammate getting his hand stitched up.

"There we go Naruto. Now you can help next time we see ninja." Kakamei jokingly said. Naruto was getting his hand wrapped as he heard the remark.

"Whatever! When I see another enemy I'll show you!" Naruto said loudly as Kakamei simply smiled at the reaction he got from his teammate.

In the Middle of a Lake

Hours Later

Team 7 were silently moving along the water as they moved slowly.

"Alright, before we can carry out any farther is there something you want to tell us Mr. Tazuna?" Kakashi said interrogatively. Tazuna looked up as this made everyone on the little boat listen in. The bridge builder sighed heavily as he readied himself to finally tell the truth.

"I believe there's no point in hiding anything anymore. I'm not going to lie. There's an extremely powerful man after me." Tazuna said as he looked at the others. Kakamei was surprised by this answer as he looked at the builder.

"A powerful man?" Kakashi asked.

"You probably know of him as one of the wealthiest men in the world: Gatou." Tazuna said. Kakamei looked surprised.

"Oh, you know Gatou as well?" Kakamei asked Tazuna. This became an extreme shocker to Tazuna.

"You mean you know him personally?!" Tazuna asked. Kakamei thought about how to answer.

"Well, I wouldn't say personally but I've met him." Kakamei states, "Before I made it to the Leaf Village I was traveling. I met Gatou and his men." Kakamei said. Everyone was surprised to hear what Kakamei was saying.

"What are you talking about?! How did you meet them?!" Tazuna urges, pressuring Kakamei to answer.

"They occupied a town that I was staying in. I stole food from and money them." Kakamei said as Kakashi was surprised.

"But I thought Gatou owned Gatou's Transportation Company." Kakashi said. Tazuna nodded slowly. Naruto sat in the background confused as always.

"On the outside Gatou is the owner of one of the world's largest companies. But, underground he he uses gangs and ninjas to smuggle drugs and contraband just as he takes over companies and countries. A year ago he st his sights on the Land of Waves. He entered the country using his wealth and violence as a shield. He quickly took over the country's sea traffic. On an island like the land of Waves, controlling the sea is controlling the wealth, politics, and the people. The one thing Gatou is afraid of is the bridge thats being constructed right now." Tazuna said.

"So, you're an obstacle for Gatou then." Sakura said.

"Then Those Chunin for the Village Hidden in the Mist were sent by Gatou." Sasuke said.

"Let me guess… since you're country is controlled by Gatou it's at a financial low. That's why you didn't apply for an A-rank mission. It's that you couldn't afford it." Kakamei said. Tazuna nodded his head.

"Yes. If you would like, you may drop me off when we reach the island. Sure, I'll be killed before I even get home." Tazuna said. The last sentence seemed to sound different as he seemed more… sincere.

"But there's no need to blame yourselves. Only my cute, eight year old grandson will cry and cry and cry some more. My daughter will also bare a grudge Leaf shinobi for the rest of her life. But, it won't be your fault." Tazuna said as he waited for someone to answer. Kakamei sat in the background listening to what Tazuna had to say.

Kakashi scratched his head as he looked at the bridge builder.

"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice. We will continue the mission." Kakashi said.

"Thank you." Tazuna said aloud. In his mind he had different. 'I win.' He thought to himself.

"Hey, Tazuna." Kakamei said getting the attention of the bridge builder.

"What is it?" Tazuna asked. Kakamei looked at the boy.

"What does it feel like to have a family?" Kakamei asked. This caught everyone's attention. They had not heard Kakamei speak about his family. This caught everyone off guard, even Sasuke.

"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked. Kakamei just looked plain faced. He stared at the old man as he tilted his head in wonder.

"I mean, how does it feel to have a family? I've forgotten how it feels. Please tell me how it feels." Kakamei said. Kakashi looked at his student.

'Seeing as he never talks about it I almost forgot Kakamei's alone.' Kakashi thought to himself.

The question caught Tazuna off guard as he hadn't expected anyone to ask him something like this. Now that he stopped to think about it, what was his family to him.

"This is unexpected kid. If I had to say what a family is to me it would be people I care for a lot." Tazuna said. Kakamei thought about it for a couple of seconds then sighed.

"So it hasn't changed. Haha!" Kakamei said laughingly. Just like that Kakamei was going to say something else but he stopped himself.

"Hey." The man rowing the boat said quietly.

"This is as far as I go." The man said as they docked onto the shore. Everyone hopped off the boat.

"I understand. Thank you for taking such a risk." Tazuna said humbly.

"Just be careful." The man said before turning the boat engine on and leaving the group of travelers in the mist.

"My home is this way. Please, just follow me." Tazuna said.

Minutes later the group were out of the thick mist and walking through the a forest that was surprisingly green. Kakamei was walking slightly behind everyone thinking to himself.

'If they strike us again it'll be someone stronger than the last ones. Hopefully there's one for everybody. And this time I expect Naruto not to choke up like he did last time." Kakamei said as he cracked a smile. Naruto just so happened to look back at him.

"What are you smiling about?" Naruto asked as he looked at the Daichiki boy who had a smirk on his face.

"Ah, it's nothing." Kakamei said. Naruto turned and ran to the front of the group.

'I'm not gonna let Sasuke or Kakamei get the glory this time. Believe it!" Naruto thought to himself as he watched for any upcoming threats. Out the corner of his eye Naruto saw the bushes slightly move. He grabbed a kunai out of his pouch quickly and threw it at the shrubbery. There was a silence as everyone waited for what would pop out.

"It's just a rabbit." Naruto said, trying to play it smooth.

"A mouse! Yeah right! Stop trying to act cool, idiot! You're so obvious it's embarrassing!" Sakura yelled naggingly at Naruto.

"Naruto, that's a kunai knife. It's a dangerous weapon." Kakashi said. Tazuna was in the background shaking with fury.

"Stop trying to scare me you damn twerp!" Tazuna yelled as Naruto simply ignored the worming and kept looking for clues of an incoming opponent.

"Hey! Is someone over there?! No, I think he's over there!" Naruto said loudly as he jumped around looking for something to throw a kunai at. He saw a slight movement in the corner of his eye.

"Over there!" Naruto yelled as he threw a kunai at a tree. Everyone in the group looked at what Naruto had hit. In the wake of the weapon a little white rabbit. Kakamei sniffed the air.

'I know we're surrounded by water but… why does it smell so heavy?' Kakamei thought. Just as he finished that there was a sharp cut of wind in the air. Just then a huge blade came into sight. It cut into a nearby tree. Everyone looked up and on the hilt of the blade stood a man.

"Here he is." Kakamei said aloud as everyone looked down their next opponent.


	5. Chapter 4

The traveling group looked up into the tree as they saw their next opponent staring them down. The man was laughing maniacally.

The opponent was a tall and noticeably muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He could be seen wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. The man wore his forehead protector sideways on his head. He was shirtless, with his chest only covered by a belt to which he attached his sword would most likely be stuck, wearing baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of Kirigakure and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers.

'Here it is!' Naruto yelled to himself in his head.

'Now's my time to shine. I'm not going to lose to Kakamei or Sasuke.' Naruto those

ught.

"Well, well. If it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi said as he looked up at the newly identified ninja.

Naruto ignored the fact of what Zabuza was and started to attack. Before Naruto could go anywhere Kakashi put his hands up and halted him.

"You're in the way. Get back." Kakashi said. Naruto was taken back by this new side of Kakashi.

"But why?" Naruto asked, still confused about why Kakashi had stopped him.

"This one is not like the others. No, this one is in a whole different leagues." Kakashi said as he prepared himself for a battle.

"I suppose you're Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan." Zabuza said as he looked at Kakashi. He looked at the black haired Daichiki and smiled.

"So, Kakashi the rumors are true. You have the Daichiki brat with you too. I'll be taking his head as well." Zabuza said as he looked at Kakamei.

"If I'm going to be fighting an opponent of this level I'm going to need this." Kakashi said lifting his headband from his eye. It was of a total difference of what the normal eye looked like. His pupil was red with three tomoe circling inside. Kakamei looked at the eye.

'I didn't know Kakashi had things like this up his sleeve." Kakamei thought to himself amused. Naruto took a step back as he was hit with the fact that Kakashi's eye looked unusual to say the least.

"I feel quite lucky. I get to see the Sharingan in action." Zabuza said confidently.

Kakamei looked over to Sasuke. The Uchiha heir looked taken aback by the news of Kakashi having the SHaringan. Sasuke stood there in awe, seemingly motionless.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Kakamei asked. Sasuke nodded his head.

"Quick! Four Man Manji Formation. Protect the bridge builder and stay out of this. I taught you teamwork and now it's time to use it." Kakashi ordered his team. Instantly the Genin surround Tazuna.

"Very well, Kakashi of the Sharingan, let's see how much fun you can make things." Zabuza said as he chuckled. Naruto became irritated because he couldn't follow the conversation.

"Everyone's talking about Sharingan this, Sharingan that, but someone tell me what the Sharingan is! And what is this talk about Kakamei needing to be killed." Naruto yelled in annoyance. Surprisingly Sasuke was the one to speak up on the Sharingan part of Naruto's question.

"The Sharingan is a rare power that resides in the eyes. The user of this doujutsu will be able to instantly see and comprehend any type of Taijutsu, Genjutsu, or Ninjutsu as well as reflect the attack back on the attacker. However, there is more to the Sharingan than that… a lot more. But I have no idea about Kakamei." Sasuke said. The Team 7 looked at Kakamei.

"Kakamei, what is all this talk about you needing to be killed?" Sakura asked. Kakamei treated it like it was no big deal.

"I'll tell you about it later. But, now we have to worry about the enemy at hand." Kakamei said. Now that Kakamei finished Zabuza intervened.

"You got it right boy. But that's only the beginning. The Sharingan can copy the user's opponent's movements to the smallest detail. As for the brat there won't be a later. You will die along with the bridge builder." Tazuna said as he put up a sign and conjured the mist to surround the fighters.

"As for you, Jonin, I've had my eyes on you for quite a while. I recently picked up a Bingo Book to see if you were still out there and I was right. Just so you know the man you call sensei is called the man who had 'copied a thousand jutsu', Kakashi the Copy Ninja." Zabuza said as the genin looked surprised that their beloved sensei being such an amazing ninja.

"Wow! That's so cool." Naruto yelled. Sasuke was deep in thought about how the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha had found its way to Kakashi.

"What's really interesting is that boy, Kakamei. He's listed in my bingo book as well. He's from the Sand Village. He has a hefty bounty on his head. I don't know why you're in the book but it says to kill you on sight." Zabuza said. The team of Genin looked at Kakamei with astonishment. He was standing on the right of Tazuna looking down to the ground. His teammates wanted to freak out.

"Kakamei! Is that true?!" Naruto asked loudly as he looked at the Daichiki. Kakamei took a while to answer.

"Yes, but it's not what you think the bounty is because—" Kakamei tried to say before he was cut off by Zabuza.

"Enough talking. I need that old man dead." Zabuza said coldly. He jumped in the air and stood on the water, which was completely bizarre to the genin and started weaving hand signs.

"Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu." Zabuza said. As he finished talking there was thick mist that started to spread across the battlefield. Kakamei tried to look around but failed because the mist was so thick. He held his hands out in front of his face and was barely able to see them.

Kakamei started to grip his kunai hard as if he was readying himself to strike.

"Sensei!" Sakura called.

"He will come after me first." Kakashi answered.

"But who is he?" The kunoichi asked.

"He's Zabuza Momochi, the ex-leader of the Hidden Mist Assassination Unit. He is a master of the silent killing technique." Kakashi answered.

"S-silent?" Naruto stumbled.

"Just as the name suggests, it happens in an instant. Without sound or warning. It's so fast you pass to the next life without even noticing. Not even the Sharingan can fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard." Kakashi said, giving his team an order. There was a silence for a moment as everyone had their guards up, waiting for the killer to strike.

"Well, if we fail we only lose our lives." Kakashi said jokingly.

"How can you say that?!" Sakura said with anger and worry in her voice. As they were talking it became harder and harder to see.

"The mist is getting thicker and thicker!" Naruto yelled.

"The Land of Waves is surrounded by water. Here the mist is as normal as the clouds in the sky." Tazuna reminded the group. The mist had become so thick that the students couldn't even see their sensei. The Genin scooted closer to the bridge builder in fear of being taken off guard. Kakamei was standing at his part as he could've sworn he could smell the tension in the air.

'This reminds me of a long time ago. Oh, how long it's been since I have felt bloodlust like this. So these are jonin.' Kakamei thought to himself.

"Eight points…" Zabuza said from the shadows, "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, vein, collarbone, kidneys, and the heart. Now, which one will be my attacking point." Kakashi started to muster chakra, getting prepared for the battle that was bound to happen soon. He released his chakra and pushing away all of the mist.

As the group waited in silence there was a moment when everyone feared for their life. Zabuza hid himself as he waited for something to trigger him. Kakamei looked over to see Sasuke pulling the kunai closer and closer to himself. He reached out and grabbed Sasuke's hand.

"What are you doing?" Kakamei asked as they then heard their teacher.

"Sasuke, calm down. I will protect you with my life, all of you." Kakashi said confidently. He then turned and let off a smile to his students.

"I will not allow my comrades to die. That is absolute." Kakashi said. This triggered something in Kakamei that made him think back to a time when he was just a child.

'I will not allow any of you to die.' rung through Kakamei's minds as he started to get uncomfortable now. His breathing started to get deeper and deeper. His palms started to sweat and his heartbeat started to race.

"What's wrong Daichiki boy? What happened to your calm composure? Have you started to fear death?" Zabuza asked. Kakamei nearly fell over. Just then Zabuza appeared in between the Manji Formation. He had his sword positioned on his back. In mere milliseconds Kakashi spun around and stabbed Zabuza in the stomach with a kunai.

Team 7's genins took a step back. Kakamei even fell down on his back. They started to feel the relief that Zabuza had been defeated, only to take a deeper look and see Zabuza leaking water, not blood.

"Sensei, behind you!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi quickly turned around to see Zabuza already mid swing, no, already slicing him in half.

Before Zabuza could celebrate his victory he noticed that Kakashi turned into water.

'Water clones!?' Zabuza thought as he felt the sharpness of a kunai knife touching his neck.

"Don't move. Now it's over, you're finished." Kakashi said to Zabuza. Here was a silence as the others took in what had just happened.

"Wow! Kakashi-sensei! That was cool!" Naruto yelled. The other genin didn't show it verbally but they also felt the relief of their sensei having won the fight. Kakamei, who had been having a slight panic attack had calmed down as well. He had regained his composure and now had his usual look on his face. Zabuza started to chuckle lightly.

"Finished? You really don't get it. Your techniques are nothing but a crass imitation. I'll never be defeated by a copy-cat ninja like you. But, you are full of surprises. You were able to copy my jutsu in the middle of your speech. Very skillfully executed. You made your clone say those words to draw my attention while you were in the mist, waiting for me to make my move. Nice try, but I'm not that easy to fool." Zabuza said. The moment he finished the last word he appeared behind Kakashi.

Zabuza swung his sword to slice Kakashi in half but the latter ducked fast enough to dodge the attack. Zabuza turned and kicked Kakashi in the chest and sent him flying in the air. Kakashi landed in the lake. He had barely made his head and shoulders out of the water before he was encased encased in a water jutsu by the rogue ninja who was now standing behind him.

"What a fool! Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!" Zabuza said. Kakashi, suspended in a water jutsu sat and watched as his students watched.

"This prison is made of water stronger than steel It's hard to fight when you can' move, wouldn't you agree." Zabuza taunted.

"So much for the famous Kakashi. I'll finish you off once those brats are out of the way. Water Clone Jutsu!" Zabuza said as he created a water clone that was made of a puddle that was in front of the students.

"You think you can call yourself ninja just by wearing those headbands? Pathetic. The only ones who can call themselves shinobi are the ones that have seen the face of death so many times it doesn't even face them. When you become so deadly that your profiles are entered into my Bingo Book, then I might consider you ninja. The fact that you call yourselves shinobi is nothing but an unfunny joke to me." Zabuza said the new ninja.

When he finished his speech the clone disappeared into the mist. He couldn't be sensed by anyone. He appeared in front of Kakamei.

"I'm going to kill you first. The money on your head is way too much to let slip up so easily." Zabuza said before he punched the kid in the face sending him flying. Kakamei hit a flip and landed on his feet even though he continued to skid across the ground. Before he could regain his balance Zabuza appeared behind him and swung his arm and, with his wrist, slamming Kakamei sending him landing onto the ground. Zabuza walked to Kakamei and put his foot on the genin's chest.

"To make sure you can't go too far I'll just give you a slight handicap." The rogue ninja said as pushed his foot down and Kakamei started to shriek in pain . Zabuza had just broken a few of his ribs.

"There we go." Zabuza said as he turned to the others.

"If you're feeling like saviors, come and help your friend." Zabuza said as he laughed. His laughed was thrown into the background as Kakashi started speaking.

"Everyone! Get out of here! Now!" Kakashi yelled at his students. The clone fell back into the mist and it became silent once more. In less than a second Zabuza appeared in front of Naruto and kicked him in the stomach. The boy flew backwards and landed not too far from Kakamei. Naruto slowly tried to stand as he noticed a slight change. He looked up as he saw his headband missing. He looked forward and saw the clone standing on it with an arrogant face.

"You're nothing but kids." Zabuza said, looking over Naruto.

"Listen! Get the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight! He's using all of his power to keep me in this water prison. He's only able to fight with his clone! His clone can't go much farther from his real body! If you get away now, his clone won't be able to follow you! Now RUN!" Kakashi ordered loudly.

'Run away? Not an option. The idea of running away became impossible the moment you were trapped in that

ninjutsu. No matter how fast or how far we run he will track us down and wipe us out. If we try the Manji Formation, he'll get past it just like that. In the end, if we do what he says we're finished. Our only chance to survive is to rescue Kakashi.' Sasuke thought as he looked at the situation.

'What doesn't make it better is that Kakamei is on the ground. It sounds like Zabuza broke a few of his ribs. He won't be moving any time soon. So now it's just me, Naruto, and Sakura.' Sakura thought as she looked at him on the ground. She looked thoroughly because she started to see a slight color change coming from that direction. She shook her head to get those thoughts out of her mind. Maybe the mist was getting to her vision. Before she could take another look Sasuke bolted towards the water clone.

The Uchiha jumped into the air and threw shuriken at the Mist ninja. Zabuza simply pushed away the shuriken with his sword. His sharp senses detected something and looked up to see the genin falling towards him.

"Too easy." Zabuza said as he grabbed Sasuke by the throat and threw him away.

"Sasuke! No!" Sakura yelled helplessly. Naruto turned his gaze to Sasuke before reverting it back to Zabuza.

'So this is what a jonin is like? I - I gotta get away! If I don't he's going to annihilate me!' Naruto thought to himself as he was shaking with fear. He went to crawl away when his left hand touched the ground and he was taken back to his promise.

'Upon this wound I make this pledge! Believe it!' Naruto thought to himself. Naruto slowly stood as he prepared himself for another charge.

'That's right! I swore an oath of pain! I won't run away!" As he dashed at Zabuza.

On the ground Kakamei's head was turned in the opposite direction of the fight as he sat there in pain.

"That hurt! He broke my ribs and I can barely breath. I need to gather chakra." Kakamei said lightly as he started to muster tiny bits of chakra slowly.

After a few seconds he was able to turn his head in the other direction to see how the fight was going. He watched as he was Naruto bolting towards Zabuza and getting kicked away ever so slightly.

"Ah. They are having trouble. They need my help. I don't enough chakra yet to fix myself so I'll just have to wait. Ugh, it hurts so much." Kakamei said to himself as he was lying on the ground, waiting for his body to heal so he could help his friends. He watched as he saw Naruto making yet another dash to the Hidden Mist shinobi.

When Naruto made it to the water clone, the "fake" Zabuza swatted him away as if he was a fly. Naruto rolled on the ground as he lied on his stomach.

Idiot!" Sakura yelled at the knucklehead.

"What do you think you're doing?! Even Sasuke couldn't get him! Were only genin! We can't defeat a Jonin! You could've gotten yourself killed!" Sakura said as she saw Naruto slowly, but steadily, got back on his feet. The thing that surprised Sakura was Naruto carrying his headband.

'His headband?' Sakura asked herself as she watched Naruto out the headband back on.

"Hey! Freak with no eyebrows!" Naruto yelled. This made Zabuza's vein on his forehead poke out in irritation.

"Put this in your bingo book! The ninja that will become the Hokage of the Leaf Village is standing right in front you! He never backs down and his name is… NARUTO UZUMAKI!" Naruto yelled. Kakamei smiled in amusement.

'He's never at a loss for words is he? Ha' Kakamei thought as he felt warmth on his stomach's skin.

'Finally! It should be awhile before I'm completely healed.' Kakamei said as he just sat and watched his teammates.

Everyone stood in silence as they listened to the blonde haired knucklehead. The group was surprised by Naruto's outburst. So much that even Tazuna was stuck in a mix of admiration and surprise.

'I thought he was all talk but he actually has some guts.' Tazuna thought as Naruto stood up.

"Hey Sasuke, Sakura. I have a plan." Naruto said confidently. Everyone stood in awe before Sasuke broke out of it and cracked a smile.

"About time." Sasuke said jokingly.

"Alright, guys! Let's go wild!" Naruto said enthusiastically, which caught Sakura off guard. Kakashi was watching this in horror as he thought he was watching his students march into their deaths.

"What do you think you're doing?! I told you to run! This fight was over the moment I was caught in this jutsu! Take off! This mission isn't to show how brave you are! It's to save the bridge builder! Stay on mission!" Kakashi yelled at the Genin. He was saw his students standing still.

"Bridge builder?" Naruto said lowly asking Tazuna what his verdict would be.

"Well, I guess this all happened because of me. My desire to live. But I won't let that stand in your way. Forget about me and do what you have to do! Go ahead and save your sensei!" Tazuna said. This made the genin smiled as they readied themselves to fight their next opponent.

They heard laughing in the background as they readied themselves for the battle. It was Zabuza chuckling at the spunk of the new ninja.

"You really don't get it? Still playing your little game, pretending to be ninja. When I was your age I had already crushed many with these hands!" Zabuza said maniacally.

"Zabuza… the Demon of the Mist… long ago in the Village Hidden in the Mist, also known as Blood Mist Village, there was a final task one had to do in order to become a ninja." Kakashi said as looked up at the demon holding the Water Prison Jutsu.

Zabuza looked down at Kakashi as he was excited that someone knew about it.

"So, you know about the Graduation Exam?" Zabuza asked as Kakashi looked at Zabuza disgusted. Naruto was confused as to what was happening.

"What graduation exam? And what's so special about it? We had to go through one too." Naruto said.

"Really? Did you You have to kill another student to pass?" Zabuza asked as he had a sense of bloodlust oozing front every pore of his body.

"Just imagine it, ninja like you eating together,training together, and then comes the exam, only for the rules to change. You can't stop until your opponent is finished. It's you or him." Zabuza explained. The Leaf Village genin were shocked by the fact of friends killing each other. Kakamei was too far out of earshot to hear.

'I can't hear what their saying. I won't make it in time. Whether I live or die is up to you guys.' Kakamei said. He then took in a deep breath and started to gather chakra. Since he was lying on the ground the ground that had previously been covered in green grass was burned to a crisp. The ground was now completely black with no signs of life being able to grow in that space.

'I have to concentrate or I'll really destroy the insides of my body.' Kakamei thought to himself as he concentrated on his body.

"A couple of years ago in the Village Hidden in the Mist The Graduation Exam had to change. One year before, a dark evil came to the Academy. Without any pause or hesitation, a child who wasn't even enrolled in the academy approached the class and took out over one hundred other students." Kakashi said as the ominous story made everyone silent.

As the genin were thinking about what Kakashi had said they could hear Zabuza now breathing heavily. The Mist Village Jonin was staring at his hands as if he was completely insane. He then changed his gaze to the sky and let out a sigh.

"It felt so… good." Zabuza said as he looked back down at the genin. They were shaken by the fact that Zabuza had said such a thing.

Before they could say anything the water clone jumped into action and elbowed Sasuke in the stomach and sent him flying. Naruto was shocked by what had just happened.

Sasuke went sliding on the ground as Zabuza simply elbowed him in the stomach. With a strong gasp Sasuke coughed blood. The genin adjusted their sights to Sasuke and the water clone.

"SASUKE!" Sakura shouted for her teammate. Zabuza stood to his feet and stepped on Sasuke's chest. He gripped the handle of his sword, which was on his back. He pushed his foot down harder and harder onto Sasuke chest, making him squirm on the ground in pain.

Kakashi watched in fear of his student's demise. Naruto who was nearby brought his hands together with an infuriated facial expression.

"Stop right there! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled and summoned an absurd amount of shadow clones. Zabuza watched as they appeared everywhere.

"Oh, shadow clones," Zabuza said suavely, "And there's quite a few of them." The clones all readied their kunai knives, ready to jump into the fight. Sasuke struggled to stand off the ground as he watched Naruto.

Without speaking, Naruto jumped into the air and landed on top of Zabuza. In less than a second the Narutos were pushed back and sent flying across the battlefield.

"His skills are too advanced. There's no way to beat him." Tazuna said as the Naruto's that were flying across the ground started proofing away in smoke. The real Naruto reached into his bag and grabbed a huge shuriken out of his bag.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, getting the boy's attention. He threw the weapon, which Sasuke caught, was surprised about something of the weapon, spun in a 360 degree circle, and looked at Zabuza.

"Not bad, Naruto." Sasuke said as he spread the weapon's 'arms' outwards.

"Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!" Sasuke yelled. Sakura and Tazuna watched in awe as they saw Sasuke looking so cool.

"Shuriken? You'll never touch me with that." Zabuza said as he chuckled at the thought of someone trying to throw that at him. The genin jumped in the air and threw the huge shuriken in the air sent it swirling at Zabuza.

Just as he looked up the water clone was surprised as the shuriken went flying past him. The real Zabuza looked in amused.

"You skipped the clone and went straight for the real body. Smart. But… not smart enough." Zabuza said as he simply caught the shuriken in his free hand. He seemed secure for a second as he suddenly saw another come out of the shadows of nowhere.

"What?!" Zabuza said as he watched it dash towards him.

"You hid a second shuriken in the shadow of the first. The Shadow Shuriken Jutsu! Zabuza said as he looked at what seemed to be their final attempt to stop him. As he attack closed in he simply jumped into the air while the Demon Wind Shuriken simply flew under him. With a sadistic look he stared down the genin.

"I told you, that could never touch me!" Zabuza said. Sakura looked scared as she thought this was the last thing before they were going to be killed. Sasuke just smiled as he watched his plans unfold.

The shuriken The went up in smoke and out came… Naruto! Everyone on the battlefield looked shocked at the blonde haired boy coming out. He was holding a shuriken.

"What?!" Zabuza yelled as he saw the boy floating in the air.

"Eat this!" Naruto yelled as he threw the kunai at Zabuza.

This time Zabuza has no choice but to retract his hand from the water prison and move out of the way. Zabuza looked at Naruto with anger as blood came spewing out of the cut that Naruto had just given him. Naruto was falling into the water as Zabuza readied himself in anger.

Zabuza started to quickly turn the shuriken that was in his hand fiercely, ready to strike down Naruto. Before he could let throw the shuriken his arm was stopped by another. Blood flew into the air as out of the water Kakashi was standing in front of the Demon looked at his once again opponent Kakashi.

Naruto fell in the water as Kakashi gave Zabuza a death threatening stare. Zabuza saw the Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye and started to slightly tremble.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yell, relieved to see her teacher. Kakashi stared at Zabuza with a strong look of dominance as he started to compliment his students.

"Naruto, Sasuke! That was excellent execution. You two have really grown." Kakashi said. With a nervous laugh, Naruto scratched the back of his head because of the hype Kakashi was giving him.

"I know I couldn't beat the clone with my clones so I had to come up with something. I transformed myself into Demon Shuriken and made my clone throw it to Sasuke. He knew it was me immediately and spun around to pull out his own. Now there were two shuriken. One was the real one and the other was me. I hid in the shadow of the real one and since the clone was out of the way, he couldn't stop or even notice that there was a second weapon all along. But I didn't know the water clone would disappear too. That was a bonus! Believe it!" Naruto yelled in victory.

"Don't brag about it, loser. You were plain lucky." Sasuke said as he clearly had a slight smirk creeping on his face.

"The whole thing was just a fluke." Tazuna said as Sakura observed.

"You can call it what you want, their teamwork was perfect. Sasuke knew what Naruto was thinking instantly. They act like they hate each other but they have perfect teamwork.' Sakura said as she looked at her teammates.

Zabuza interrupted the conversation as he started to push onto the shuriken. Kakashi held his ground. After a short amount of time of trying to overpower each other Kakashi pushed away the shuriken into the distance. The two jonin jumped across the water, gaining the distance.

Zabuza started to weave hand signs which Kakashi easily started to copy. Kakashi started to copy the signs faster and faster.

After a span of ten to twenty seconds of weaving hand signs they both stopped weaving and yelled their moves.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" They said in unison as two dragons formed out of the water. They both circled around the users before slamming into each other. The water went flying everywhere. The watchers of the fight were touched by the water but not too much.

Kakameui, who was still lying on the ground. The water didn't get a chance to come closer to him as it turned to steam before touching him. Everyone was too busy to notice but it was getting fairly warm out.

The two jonin were still standing on the water, watching each other.

'Something isn't right. The sharingan is able to comprehend and replicate the enemy's technique, but the jutsu were shot at the same time! How did he know what jutsu I was going to do? Could it be that…?' Zabuza thought as he was ready to try his theory. He started to run in a circle with one hand in the air. Zabuza then did a random hand sign. When he finished his movements his eyes slightly looked frightened as he noticed his hypothesis was right.

'He's not only coyin me but he's doing it at the same time.' Zabuza thought to himself.

"He's not just following him, he's moving in the same way and the same time. You shinobi sure have some really interesting abilities." Tazuna admitted as he watched the ninja fight.

'He's copying my movements perfectly, like a damn mirror. It feels like he's—" Zabuza was trying to think before he was cut off in his thinking.

"He knows what I'm about to do next?" Kakashi said seemingly finishing the sentence he was THINKING!

'He's reading my mind?!" Zabuza thought. Kakashi capitalized on Zabuza's doubting himself.

"It makes you furious, doesn't it?" Kakashi said as he looked at Zabuza. The rogue looked angry at Kakashi with a mix of hatred and slight fear.

"All you do is copy! You can't—" Zabuza tried to say before Kakashi chimed in.

"Beat me with just your cheap tricks! I'll crush you!" They both said together.

Zabuza couldn't handle the mockery that Kakashi was making out of him.

"When I'm done with you you'll never open that monkey mouth of yours again!" he yelled with anger so intense as he saw the lame shinobi from the Leaf was making him look bad. He started to furiously to weave hand signs before he saw something that caught his eye.

Behind Kakashi he saw a silhouette of someone. As he concentrated on the figure he saw that it was himself.

'A genjutsu?' Zabuza thought.

"Water Style: Water Vortex Jutsu!" Kakashi yelled. Zabuza wasn't ready for this as he watched Kakashi launch the jutsu that he was about to launch. The water caught him off guard as a huge wave of water slammed into his body and sent him flying away. He was quickly floating through the water.

'That was the jutsu I was going to use! How did he know what I was going to use?!' Zabuza thought to himself as he washed up onto a tree. He took strong, deep breaths. Just as the water had slightly calmed down Zabuza felt sharp pains in his arms and legs, crucifying him onto the tree that was supporting him. He then looked up as he saw Kakashi standing above him.

"Now, it's over." Kakashi said while unleashing two kunai, ready to kill Zabuza.

"H- How? Can you see the future?!" Zabuza asked with fear in his eyes. Kakashi looked down in anger.

"Yes, and this is you last battle. Ever!" Kakashi said. He readied himself to land the final blow before two quick objects came flying from an unknown source. Zabuza was hit in the neck and his head fell. Two senbon needles had pierced him.

"Indeed, it was his last battle." A cold, emotionless voice said from the shadows. It seemed like a young boy from a distance. Everyone looked around as they saw a rather small figure standing above them.

As Kakamei was lying on the ground he sniffed hard and smelled something… awkward yet strong in its presence. He looked over in the direction of the small ninja. He saw the surprise on all of his teammates faces and Zabuza's lying body.

'That person must be the one that killed Zabuza. Kakashi was having trouble with Zabuza and he swooped in and finished the job. Oh I would fight him but I'm still not recovered. I thought I was decent at this but I'll be doing this for a couple of hours. I really want to fight him.' Kakamei thought as he watched on to the events of the impending confrontation with a masked shinobi and Team 7.

"The real problem is that the others need to get out of here. If I could turn up the heat it wouldn't be as long but I'll just have to wait it out now." Kakamei said as he continued to watch, out of earshot of what the other fighters were saying.

Kakashi jumped from his position in the tree and landed next to Zabuza. He placed to fingers on the rogue ninja's neck and came to a conclusion. He was searching for a while. He eventually sighed and lowered his hand.

"He's dead." Kakashi said. The masked villain bowed his head as he started to speak.

"Thank you. I've been following Zabuza for a while now. I was waiting for an opportunity to strike him down and you have me that chance." The kid said. Kakashi looked up and stared at the kid. Now that he was looking the kid was not only oddly dressed but surprisingly small.

The ninja had long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes, and a slender frame. He wore a traditional Kirigakure pinstriped outfit which stopped at his knees. Over this he wore a green haori with white trimmings, and around his waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around his waist twice. He also wore light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as his kimono and nail polish on his fingernails and toenails in matching blue green colour.

Kakashi regained his composure and started to speak with the mysterious ninja.

"By your mask I take it you're tracked ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi said as he looked at the ninja. The boy seemed slightly amused that Kakashi had guessed correctly.

"Impressive. You're well informed." The tracker ninja said.

Naruto came bursting between his other two genin teammates, confused about what the two ninja were talking about.

"A tracker ninja?" Naruto said as Sakura shook her head in disapproval.

"Naruto! You don't even know what that is. You missed the day we learned about it at the Academy as usual. Tracker ninja are very important and their tasks are as well. When a rogue ninja breaks away from his village, he carries all types of secrets of his people. Tracker ninja are trained to hunt these ninja down and secure the secrets." Sakura said triumphantly as she was glad that she knew something that her idiot teammate didn't.

The tracker ninja nodded.

"That's correct. I'm a member of the elite tracking unit from The Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to secure Zabuza." The ninja, explaining what the reason for the events that had just transpired.

'Judging from is height and voice e must be around the same age as Naruto. Yet, he's a member of the Hidden Mist's elite tracking unit. He's no ordinary kid, but what is he?' Kakashi said as he inspected the young boy who had landed the deadly blow on Zabuza. Out of the blue Naruto started yelling, loud enough for Kakamei to hear.

"What is this?! Who the hell do you think you are?!" The young boy yelled. Everyone quickly turned to Naruto. He was visibly angry with a finger pointing to the tacker ninja.

As Kakamei was lying on the ground he heard the loud voice booming. It threw off his concentration enough that the heat that was protruding from his body ceased. He looked closely at what exactly was happening.

"What is going on? Naruto is yelling his brains out and I can't hear anyone else talking. Man that guy has some lungs." Kakamei said as he listened in for more information on what was happening.

"Did you hear me?1 I asked, who the hell do you think you are?!" Naruto yelled once again. This time Kakashi had gained his bearings and prepared to calm his student.

"Easy, Naruto. He's not our enemy." Kakashi said. Naruto was still angry at the events that had just taken place.

"That's not the point! Did you see what he just did? Zabuza was huge and powerful, like some kind of monster! And this… KID, who's no older than I am, took him down with a single move like it was nothing! I mean, what does that make us? We're just bumbling around, we don't know anything! How am I supposed to accept that!" Naruto yelled in frustration. Kakashi understood what Naruto was coming from.

The boy had been essentially training his entire life and he was outclassed easily. It wasn't hard to understand his unrest about the situation.

"Well, even if you don't want to accept it, it happened. In this world there are kids who are younger than you but stronger than me." Kakashi said trying to calm his student down. He pulled down his headband over his Sharingan eye.

All of the genin watched as they could relate to what Naruto was saying.

The tracker ninja poofed over to Zabuza's position and raised it off the ground.

"Your struggle is over for ow. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets within this body. We cannot allow these to fall into the wrong hands. Please excuse. Farewell." The tracker ninja said as he then turned into a swirling gust of wind.

Kakamei was lying on the ground as he watched his teammate trying to comprehend the feeling of being overcome felt like.

Kakamei just listened with a slight smirk on his face.

"Oh, Naruto wants to be the strongest. I thought he only wanted to be Hokage. If he keeps this up we might end up fighting one of these days. Ha." Kakamei said with a smirk on his face as he managed enough strength to nearly pick his body off the ground, well his stomach at least.

"They need to hurry and get out of here. If I can go full power I could be done in about twenty minutes." Kakamei said as he started to lose his thoughts of listening to the conversation that the other group was having.

'They should be fine.' He thought as he stopped talking aloud and started to let off a slightly stronger heat.

The tracker ninja poofed over to Zabuza's position and raised it off the ground.

"Your struggle is over for ow. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets within this body. We cannot allow these to fall into the wrong hands. Please excuse. Farewell." The tracker ninja said as he then turned into a swirling gust of wind.

"We still have a mission to complete. The bridge builder has yet to finish building his bridge." Kakashi said, trying to get Naruto's mind off of Zabuza's defeat. Tazuna let out a relieved laugh.

"Sorry about all the trouble I've caused you. But, you can rest in my home once we get to my village." Tazuna said as the team felt relief for Tazuna's words of hospitality.

"Alright, let's grab Kakamei and get a move on." Kakashi said as he walked to pick up his student. Before he could get too close he felt a strong gust of heat hit him. He could feel the temperature increasing earlier but nothing too drastic. This was incredibly hot.

"Kakamei! Are you doing this!?" Kakashi yelled as he looked at his student.

The young genin reluctantly looked up to see his sensei looking down at him from a distance. He turned down his concentration, which almost made the heat completely vanish.

"Yes, Kakashi. I'm doing this. I'm trying to finish healing the ribs that Zabuza broke." Kakamei said as Kakashi looked surprised that he had a power like this.

"I didn't know you had something like this! How can you do something like this!?" Kakashi said as Kakamei just shrugged it off as if everyone could do it.

"With my chakra nature I can mend broken bones. It doesn't work on this like cuts wounds. Other than that it works on everything." Kakamei said as Tazuna and Team 7, with the exception of Sasuke who had a slight look of interest in what Kakamei was doing, looked amazed at what Kakamei was doing.

"I never knew you could do something that! What's your chakra nature!?" Naruto said loudly as he was fairly interested. Kakamei was confused.

"It's Scorch Release. It's the Kekkei Genkai of the Daichiki Clan. We can use Fire and Wind Release in conjunction with each other and make even stronger blast. I use the heat from the Scorch to mend the bones." Kakamei said as he started to mediate the heat so it wasn't too hot to harm everyone around, but hot enough to continue the process with minimal concentration.

"That's amazing! You're so lucky! I wish I could have a power like that!" Naruto said as he looked to his left and saw Sakura thinking to herself.

"Is there something wrong Sakura?' Naruto asked as she stopped what she was doing.

"No, it's Kakamei's power. If you continue to mend your bones like that won't you run out of bones eventually? You're melting you're bones together so you're losing bone every time you do that." Sakura said as Kakamei shook his head.

"We have special bones. They gradually grow back. The bigger the wound, the faster the bone grows back." Kakamei said. Everyone was intrigued by what was happening inside the kid's body.

After a minute of admiration for the kid's body Kakashi regained his calm composure.

"So how long do you think it will take you to finish?" Kakashi asked as Kakamei thought for a second.

"If I keep going at this rate it'll be hours. If you leave now then I could be done in about twenty or so minutes." Kakamei said as Kakashi thought about the moves he should make next.

"Alright, we will leave Kakamei to heal and make it back to Tazuna's home. In half an hour one of you will come show him the way to the village." Kakashi said. His students nodded. The Team 7 leader understood and turned to walk away as he felt a sudden pulse in his body and he immediately blacked out.

"Kakashi-sensei!" All of the genin said as Naruto and Sakura rushed over to him. Tazuna followed as everyone took a knee beside him. Sakura checked his body and let out a sigh.

"He's alive!" Sakura said relieved. Everyone let out sighs as well.

"He probably used to much chakra during the fight with Zabuza. Take him to Tazuna's house, quickly. I'll finish healing and meet up." Kakamei said s Naruto and Sakura nodded as the blonde haired genin put up his signature hand sign and out popped three shadow clones. With two Narutos supporting each side they picked him up and allowed Tazuna to step in front.

"My home is not to far from here. Follow me." Tazuna said as he started to walk as the rest of the team followed him, except Sasuke. The Uchiha stared down at the Daichiki with a slight smirk.

"I didn't know you had power like this. I want a fight. One on one." Sasuke said. Normally when someone challenged him Kakamei just ignored the request and kept walking. But, this was a one time occasion. The only living Uchiha was standing in front of him, wanting to test him. He had no choice. He cracked a smile and looked at his teammate.

"I don't know… I wouldn't want to hurt you too bad." Kakamei teased as Sasuke simply scoffed and jumped away, to catch up with the group headed to the nearby village. Kakamei let his smile slowly drift away as he started to concentrate again.

"Before I can fight anyone I need to be healed first. Now, I can let this go." Kakamei said as he stopped preserving the heat and started to let it all flow out of him.

The forest he was in started to become charred by the heat. He amped up the heat gradually until he let out all of his energy and burned the woods to a crisp.

"I feel so much better now. I'll be done in no time." Kakamei said as he healed himself.

* * *

If you guys want to have shorter chapters than this just comment. Thanks for readin if you came this far because I know it's a lot to read


	6. Chapter 5

Twenty minutes of concentrating later Kakamei sat up off the ground and looked around as he saw the forest that was near him had been completely to cinders.

"I did all this damage. Imagine what I could do if I could actually use my Kekkei Genkai freely. I can't wait until I can." Kakamei said as he looked around again as he saw the desolate place he was surrounded by.

"Great, I have ten minutes to myself so I might as well get some training in." Kakamei said aloud as he stretched and got to training.

Ten minutes later Kakamei heard the crunching of leaves as he quickly turned to see Sakura standing there scared of Kakamei throwing a kunai or something. She raised both hands in surrender. Kakamei stood up straight and looked at his teammate as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Oh, hey Sakura." Kakamei said as he walked over to his teammate.

"I came to show you to Tazuna's village." Sakura said as Kakamei nodded as he walked toward his teammates. He stopped in front of Sakura.

"Lead the way." Kakamei said as Sakura nodded as she turned and started to walk to the village.

When they were halfway to the village Kakamei asked a question to break the awkward silence that had been created.

"So, how's Kakashi-sensei?" Kakamei asked as Sakura looked grim.

"Kakashi-sensei's alright. You were right. He had exhausted to uch chakra so he's pretty tired. He won't be fully healed in a few weeks. He's still sleep at Tazuna's house." Sakura said as Kakamei nodded.

"That's good." Kakamei said to his teammate. Kakamei looked down on the ground in thought as Sakura noticed.

"Hey, Kakamei, are you alright?" Sakura asked, concerned for her teammates well being. He didn't hear what she had said as he consisted to think.

'What was-" Kakamei was thinking as he finally noticed that Sakura had stopped walking.

"Is there something wrong?" Kakamei asked as Sakura walked next to him.

"You looked worried about something. I was just wondering what you were thinking about." Sakura asked as Kakamei looked at his teammate. Why was she worried about him? Had she not seen how he mad been beaten so easily by Zabuza? Those were questions he asked himself. He wanted to ask her why she wanted to know but he thought it would just create a weird conversation and he really wasn't a big fan of.

"No, I was just thinking about how that ninja that killed Zabuza seemed to have a very freezing aura." Kakamei said as Sakura thought back to meeting the young kid. She thought what Kakamei was saying didn't make any sense.

"I don't remember feeling any coldness from that guy." Sakura said as Kakamei just continued to walk.

"Maybe you were just hallucinating from the pain of getting your ribs broken." Sakura suggested. Kakamei thought for a little while longer before shrugging his shoulders and placing his hands behind his head.

"That doesn't sound right but it's the best I can think of at the moment. There's one other possibility but that's been dead for years now." Kakamei said nonchalantly. He shook his head and looked at his teammate. Sakura looked over and slightly pushed from the embarrassment of something staring at her.

"What?" Sakura asked sheepishly as Kakamei just turned back to looking forward.

"Nothing, I was just trying to read your emotions," Kakamei said. Sakura looked surprised at what Kakamei had just said. It was something no one had ever just came out and said to her. It was something out of the norm for her.

"Really?" Sakura asked. Kakamei acted as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, it's over now. Let's hurry and get to Tazuna's house. I'm ready to sit down somewhere." Kakamei said as Sakura just looked at him for a brief second before agreeing and walking to the house.

Eventually the two genin picked up a conversation about anything they could think of: ninja stuff, life, and even Sasuke on the occasion that Sakura would bring him up. Surprisingly Kakamei had enjoyed the time spent with Sakura.

Ten minutes later the two ninja finally made it to Tazuna's house to see that the front room had been emptied. Sakura looked for everyone. Kakamei stood behind her as he looked over her, waiting for Naruto's loud voice to boom through the house.

'Should be in three, two, and…' Kakamei thought as his brain was cut off by the loud bustling of his teammate stumbling through the house. Naruto was running to his crush as he was slightly breathing heavily.

"Sakura, Kakashi-sensei has woken up. He's sitting in the room!" Naruto said quite loudly. Kakamei looked at his teammate.

"I'm here too." Kakamei said as Naruto looked behind Sakura.

"Oh, are you finished healing yourself?" Naruto asked. Kakamei nodded and pointed inside the house.

"Show us where Kakashi-sensei is." Kakamei said as Naruto turned and waved his hand.

"Follow me."

Minutes later Kakamei, Naruto, and Sakura walked through the door of the room that Kakashi had been resting in.

Sakura walked to the side of his bed and got down on both knees.

"Listen sensei, your Sharingan is amazing and all, but if it puts that much strain on your body then maybe it's not worth it." Sakura pleaded. In the background Tazuna shrugged.

"You did take out one o the most powerful ninja assassins so we should be safe." Tazuna said. Sakura still looked worried.

"Yeah…" Sakura trailed off.

"What about the boy with the mask?" Sakura asked as sh everyone looked at Kakashi.

"He's a member of the Hidden Mist elite tacking unit," Kakashi explained, "Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi. The Anbu Black- Ops, also known as the Inferno Squad, destroy the corpses of the Rogue ninja… leaving nothing behind. The shinobi body contains many secrets: Ninjutsu, chakra, special medicine used on the body, and more. These are the secrets of his village. If enemy ninja were to find his body they would use this information to harm the village. It's the Anbu's job to prevent this." Kakamei listened as he was barely listening.

'Yeah, yeah. We learned this in the academy… I wonder what they're doing in the village right about now? Oh well. I bet Kakashi-sensei can tell me about what could happens ' Kakamei thought to himself. Kakamei started to daydream about what he could be doing right now.

Kakashi had become silent as Kakamei readied himself to ask his question.

'Ha, he looks tired but this is really bothering me.' Kakamei said as he raised his hand.

"Hey, sensei, I have a question." Kakamei said as Kakashi looked surprised.

'Kakamei never has a question. This must be something that's really bugging him.' Kakashi thought to himself.

"Yeah, ask me anything." Kakashi said as Kakamei took in a deep sigh.

"When the Mist ninja showed up did you feel a strong cold come over the battlefield?" Kakamei asked as everyone in the room, , except Sakura, looked surprised. Kakashi looked up at his student confused about what he was talking about.

"No, I didn't feel anything like that." Kakashi said as Kakamei looked down to the ground in thought for a couple of seconds.

"Maybe since you were using your scorch release chakra to heat your body that when your chakra slightly wavered you felt the chills." Kakashi said as Kakamei stopped thinking about it and shrugged.

"If I ever see that man again then I'll find out I guess." Kakamei said aloud as he was thinking about something completely different.

'I don't have the greatest chakra control but, I know it was something other than me not having complete control over my chakra. Whatever, if I'm meant to see him again then I'll see him again.' Kakamei thought. Sakura watched over her sensei.

"Sensei, maybe you should get some rest." Sakura said as Kakashi agreed.

"Yeah, I should get some rest." Kakashi said. He laid down and closed his eyes. Eventually he faded off into sleep. His students watched over him.

"And like that Kakashi's out of it." Kakamei said as he walked out of the room. Eventually everyone left the room to let the jonin sleep.

The tracker ninja was sitting over Zabuza was preparing to dissect the rogue ninja's body as a hand gripped his wrists which seemed to slightly startle him. It was Zabuza's as the tracker looked onto the body.

"That's enough! I can do it from here." the seemingly dead ninja said. The tracker ninja pulled his hand away as he sat back.

"Always so ruthless, Haku!" Zabuza said as he started to pull the senbon out of his body.

"Well, if I had landed one on your body you would have thrown an even larger fit." the ninja, Now identifies as Haku, said.

"Hmmph! And how long are you planning on wearing on that phony mask!" Zabuza ordered. The ninja put his hands to the mask.

"I have very fond memories with this mask. Also, it was useful to tricking that ninja" Haku said as he pulled of the mask. Zabuza tried to stand up briefly before dropping back onto the ground.

"Don't try to stand. You shouldn't be able to move for a week. But you're so stubborn you should be moving in half the time."

"So innocent, yet so clever. Such a rare combination. That's why I keep you around." Zabuza said as the boy chuckled.

"I'm still a kid. What else would you expect?" Haku said as he looked out into the ocean. He stood up.

"The mist's clearing. Next time will you be alright?" Haki asked as Zabuza just sat on the ground looking in disgust.

"Next time I'll see straight through his Sharingan." Zabuza said angrily. Haku stood watching the waves as he turned and looked at his master.

"Zabuza, when you were fighting did you feel a strong heat coming out of nowhere?" Haku asked as he looked at his subordinate.

"No, I didn't feel anything. The only slight heat was an overuse of my chakra. What do you mean?" Zabuza asked as Haku just turned back towards the sea.

"When I arrived I could feel that Daichiki boy giving off some sort of heat. I don't understand what it was but I feel like it could be something deeper than a genjutsu. If I ever get a chance to see him again then I'll figure it out." Haku said as Zabuza scoffed.

"Don't get too excited. I'll break him next time I meet up with that under aged genin group again." Zabuza said as Haku let off a smile.

"Yeah, it sure is a shame I won't get a chance." Haku stated.

Hours later Kakashi was deep in his sleep as everyone was waiting around the house doing things that would be considered normal to a person in the Land of Waves.

Kakamei was sitting outside of the home trying to practice his wind and fire chakra releases. Naruto was walking around the house and looking for something to do to pass the time. Sasuke was just sitting down with his eyes closed and brooding as usual. Sakura was using her time to talk to the woman of the house and get to know her..

Minutes later Kakashi was sitting up and thinking deeply about something. His students had made it into the room and were sitting around him.

'Why do I feel like I'm missing something? Like I'm missing a piece of the bigger picture…' Kakashi thought as he tried to think of the answer that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Kakashi-sensei, you were saying." Kakamei said as he caught Kakashi's attention.

"Oh, yeah, tracker ninja are supposed to take care of the body on sight to make sure of minimal mistakes." Kakashi explained. Sakura and Naruto looked confused as to what was happening as Kakamei looked as if he was wanting to Kakashi to say something that he had been waiting, but he tried his hardest to hide this moment.

"Ok, but is it really that important?" Sakura asked as she raised an eyebrow. Kakashi thought for a quick second before answering.

"Think about it. What did that ninja do to Zabuza's body?" Kakashi asked. The students thought.

"He carried it away I guess." Sakura said as Kakashi seemed to have something clicking in his head.

"Exactly, but why? He should have started working on Zabuza right then and there, as quickly as possible. Also the weapon used for the kill is questionable. Do you remember what they were?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke, who had now looked interested in the conversation answered.

"They were senbon… No way…" Sasuke said as Kakamei was sitting there thinking to himself of something that was probably unusual for him.

'Ohhh, so that tracker ninja was on Zabuza's side… If everything goes the way I think it will Zabuza will try to fight Kakashi again and there wouldn't be any reason for the masked ninja to show up… I can't wait… I can feel it… his freezing presence now.' Kakamei was thinking as Kakashi noticed what his student was doing.

"What are you rambling about? You demolished that assassin!" Tazuna said as the others were silent, waiting for Kakashi to say something.

"Here's the thing… Zabuza is alive." Kakashi said as Naruto jumped up immediately with a surprised expression that all but one of his teammates shared.

"WHAT?!!" Naruto yelled, "But we saw his body, believe it!!" Naruto yelled.

"Kakashi-sensei, you checked him yourself. You said his heart stopped beating!!" Sakura said shakily as she wanted to Kakashi to say something on the lines of: "I'm just kidding. He was killed by the Mist ninja. Haha, I was just kidding." She seemed more worried than anyone else.

"His heart did stop beating but, that was only a temporary state to simulate death. The senbon needles needles that that tracker ninja used have a low kill rate. Unless they hit a vital organ they shouldn't cause the death of anyone. Tracker ninja have to know every detail about the human body and, to keep their enemy alive even when they don't seem like it is nothing for them. He carried away Zabuza away even thought he was heavier than him. Second, he used senbon to have a very precise effect but hardly fatal. From these two factors we can conclude that the Anbu ninja wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza but was trying to save him." Kakashi said which made Tazunza nervous. Nervous enough to try to make an excuse of Kakashi's conclusion.

"Come on, aren't you overthinking this?" Tazuna asked even though he had already known the answer to his question.

"No, at the encounter of suspicion a ninja prepares quickly for hesitation leads to disaster. Every shinobi knows this." Kakashi stated as he looked over to his students which surprised him.

'Kakamei and Naruto seem to be taking the news well, they seem to be happy to hear that. Naruto's happy about getting a second chance and Kakamei's ready to find out what that cold feeling was.' Kakashi thought to himself as he was amused by his student's giddiness about the situation. Sakura was the next to speak.

"Sensei, you said prepare quickly, but how can we do that when you can barely move?" Sakura asked as Kakashi just chuckled.

"I can still train you." Kakashi said as he watched Sakura freak at Kakashi's thought process.

"Hold on a minute! A last minute training session isn't going to make us strong enough to deal with Zabuza. You could barely beat him even with your Sharingan! We have to be reasonable about this." Sakura said. Kakamei started to smile at Sakura's comment.

"You sound like you're scared or something Sakura." Kakamei jokingly said as Sakura turned to look at the Daichiki. He tried to show no emotion but he was barely about to hold down a smile.

"No, but…" Sakura said.

"And why was I able to stop Zabuza in the first place? Hmm? Because you all helped me. You have all grown, and you, Naruto, have grown the most." Kakashi admitted as Naruto laughed softly as Kakamei let out a smile. Naruto saw this in the corner of his eye and looked at his teammate.

"What are you smiling at?" Naruto asked. Kakamei shrugged.

"When we were in the Academy you couldn't do a simple clone jutsu, let alone anything else. Now you can do the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Sensei even said you've grown the most. I want to see how much you've grown." Kakamei said as Naruto clenched his fist.

"I'll show you anytime!" Naruto yelled as Kakamei let off a slight smile as they heard Kakashi clearing his throat.

"So you finally noticed sensei! Now things are only gonna get better! Believe it!!" Naruto yelled. As soon as Naruto let out his outburst there was another that was comparable to his.

"Well, I don't believe it! And nothing is going to be good!" A whiny voice screamed as everyone in the room turned around to see a little boy with dark brown hair peeking out from under a fishing hat with blue and white stripes. He was wearing a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt underneath with a simple pair of sandals.

He looked at the ninja with hatred as Tazuna looked pleased to see the kid.

"Inari! Where have you been?" Tazuna said as the little boy ran towards him

"Welcome home, grandpa!" The boy, now known as Inari, said happily. Kakamei watched the kid with a slight disgust from the impression that was put on him.

"Inari, that was very rude. These kind of ninjas have brought your grandpa home safely. You should be a lot nicer to them, you know." Tsunami said as she placed her hands on her hips, displeased with the way the boy had addressed the ninja. Tazuna chuckled.

"It's okay. I'm rude to them too." Tzauna admitted. Inari turned to look at Team 7 then to Tsunami.

"Kaa-san, don't you see? These people are going to die! Gatou and his men will find them and wipe them out!" Inari yelled. Naruto seemed like he was the most angry about this as he jumped up and pointed at the kid.

"What did you say brat?! Listen up, do you know what a super ninja is? Well, that's me only a hundred times better! I'm gonna be Hokage one day! This Gatou or Blatou guy or whatever is no match to a real hero like me!" Naruto yelled at the kid as the kid simply shrugged off Naruto's comment.

"There's no such thing as a hero. You're just full of stupid ideas." Inari said as it really pissed Naruto. He was prepared to jump at the kid but he was stopped as he heard a voice coming from behind him.

"Kid, there's no reason to argue. You're not going to win. I don't like judging people before I get to know them. But we're busy at the moment so scurry off and go play in the dirt. You're getting on my nerves." Kakamei said which surprised everyone. It really caught Inari off guard as he was seemingly surprised.

He had never had anyone tell him off like that. He turned and walked out of the room, silently. Team 7 seemed to go quiet as they looked at Kakamei. Before they were in a team they barely heard him talk, let alone tell someone off. They looked at the boy as he seemed to have a straight face. He looked at his teammates.

"Is it something I said?" Kakamei asked. Before anyone could answer they were cut off.

"Sorry about that. Inari can be… difficult to deal with at times." Tazuna said.

"I understand. We will start with our training in a couple of hours. Until then you're dismissed." Kakashi ordered as the genin dispersed.

Team 7 were standing in the woods. Kakashi was standing in front of the Genin on crutches.

"Alright, training starts now." Kakashi said as they waited for Kakashi to begin their training.

"First, we'll begin with the review of chakra, ninja's basic source of power. Understanding is essential." Kakashi said.

"We already understand chakra." Sasuke said. Naruto nodded as he looked as if this was too simple for him.

"That's right, we learned about catra a long time ago." Naruto said as Kakashi new that this was going to be a long day.

"Chakra, Naruto. Sakura please explain." Kakashi said as Sakura prepared herself. And with that she explained chakra. Naruto listened to the explanation but seemed like he knew more about chakra before Sakura started explaining things.

"What's the big deal with all these complicated explanations? The whole point is to know how to do the jutsu isn't it?" Naruto asked as Kakashi sighed.

"These complicated explanations are so you can understand how your powers work. You don't have a full grasp on your power, you've barely scratched the surface." Kakashi explained as Naruto sat back. Kakamei listened to the conversation and thought to himself.

'If I've barely come to the surface of my power maybe this can help me get a better grasp on Scorch Release. I can only use Quick Healing and it's nothing crazy. I need to learn as much as I can about my chakra.' Kakamei thought as he listened in to the directions Kakashi was about to give.

"By drawing on physical and spiritual energies, and then to combine them within yourself. How can you do that? Each jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select them and combine them. Up until now, you have simply guessed the amount of chakra required and hoped that it comes out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, if you don't know how to balance it, then it's worthless, the jutsu won't work at all. You waste so much energy that you'll drain yourself before you know it, which means that you won't be able to fight at all. A target is what you'll become." Kakashi explained.

"How do we change this?" Naruto asked.

"By training so hard that your chakra becomes second nature to you. To achieve this goal, you must be ready to put your life on the line… and you'll start by climbing a tree." Kakashi said which caught his students off guard.

"What?! Come on sensei! Let's get serious!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi just stayed his same neutral self.

"I am serious. There's one rule… no hands whatsoever." Kakashi said which completely stunned the entire group. Who should be able to walk up a tree with no hands? Kakashi-sensei had to be joking.

"You're kidding right." Sakura said as Kakashi just said, "Am I? Let's see?" as a rebuttal. The next thing that Kakashi did surprised the genin watching.

Slowly Kakashi walked towards the tree and started to walk up the tree. Everyone, even Sasuke, looked surprised at the fact of Kakashi was walking up a tree.

"What you have to do is focus the chakra towards the soles in your feet and use it to connect to the tree." Kakashi said. Sakura looked confused.

"Wait a minute! That's a nice trick and all, but how does that helps us to fight Zabuza?" Sakura asked.

"It's the only way to fight him, Sakura. That's the entire point of the this training," Kakashi explained, "First, you'll learn how to draw a precise amount of chakra to a specific point of your body. This kind of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy, not to mention that your feet are the most difficult part of your body to gather chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this you'll be able to master any jutsu, well, theoretically at least. The second point is to maintain your chakra levels. When a ninja is focused on battle, it is even harder for him to control and maintain his chakra levels. That can be disastrous and in order to avoid this, a ninja must learn to maintain his chakra levels to the point of become second nature. Now, I can talk about this all day but that wouldn't improve your skills. You need to apply the power of chakra through training."

After saying all of that Kakashi threw down four kunai in front of each of the genin.

"Use those kunai to mark the highest point you can reach without using your hands. Then, try to pass it and so on. At first you'll need towards the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible, until you get used to it. If that's all, are you ready?" Kakashi asked as his students picked up their kunai and readied themselves. Naruto had a big smile on his face as he readied himself.

"I'm ready! This is gonna be a piece of cake! Believe it! Don't you remember Kakashi-sensei?! You said I'm the one that's grown the most!" Naruto boasted. Kakashi lowered his eyes in annoyance.

"You're definitely the one that talks the most. Now get moving!" Kakashi said as the students started to run up the tree.

As Kakamei was running he tried to concentrate chakra into his feet. When Kakamei was running up the tree was only about 5 or 6 steps up the tree as he was pushed off the tree as the tree bark under his foot crumbled. He fell down but before he could land on the ground he spun into a backflip and landed on his feet. As he looked over to see Naruto with his head into the ground and Sasuke falling down from the tree.

'This is going to take some time." Kakamei thought to himself.


	7. Chapter 6

Hours had passed already and Kakamei had barely made any progress up the tree. His body had become slightly heavier as he was getting tired. He was breathing slightly heavier.

All of Team 7 was still in the forest as they were trying to get up this tree well, at least everyone but Sakura, who had already made it up the tree.

When they had their first run up the tree Sakura had made it up the first time. If Kakamei was being honest he felt slightly jealous of her chakra control. Even though she was able to make it up the tree instantly Kakashi had still ordered her to continue to walk up the tree.

'I need to hurry up and get to the top of the tree. At this rate Sasuke's going to make it to the top of the tree before I do. Also, if I don't watch out Naruto might catch up.' Kakamei thought to himself as he stood up and looked at his tree then looked over to Naruto's tree and sweat dripped from his forehead.

Naruto was sitting on the ground rubbing his head as he was rubbing the top of his head as it was throbbing as he had fallen on it so many time.

'Maybe not.' Kakamei thought as he turned to Sasuke's tree. Sasuke had made it a little more than halfway up his tree. Kakamei looked back at his tree to notice how far he had gone. The Daichiki had barely even made it halfway up the tree. He sighed before gathering chakra in his feet and running up the tree. He was running upwards. This time he kept going up higher, and higher. He came close to his highest point before noticing that his chakra was becoming unstable. He tried to keep running before he made it up to his highest point and sliced the tree as he jumped backwards and landed on the ground. He landed on his feet before taking a seat and looking at the tree.

Now that he was looking at his tree he noticed how he saw a plethora of footprints up the tree.

'Almost every time I run up the tree that happens. I guess I'm putting too much chakra in my feet. I'll try to put less chakra into my feet this time.' Kakamei thought to himself as stood up and readied himself to run up the tree again. As he was getting ready to run he stopped himself as he noticed Naruto bent over and talking to Sakura.

'I guess Naruto's asking Sakura for help. I would ask Naruto when he's done but I doubt he'll give me any information. To be honest I don't really want any help. If I want to get stronger I have to do it by myself. I could ask Kakashi but he's just going to tell me to try harder and go back to reading that book he's already carrying around.' Kakamei thought as he shook his head and looked at the tree.

'Looks like it's just you and me.' Kakamei mentally stated as he gathered chakra in his feet and ran to the tree.

 _ **Hours Later**_

Team 7 was still doing the tree walking exercise as the sky was starting to darken and all of the genin were lying on the ground, breathing heavily as a result of using their chakra all day for the tree climbing training.

Kakashi sighed and closed his Make Out Paradise book looked at his students.

'It's getting darker outside and making it harder to read my book. Besides, it looks like the kiddies are tired.

"Alright guys, it time to go home. Grab your kunai and let's go." Kakashi said as his student stood up and went to Tazuna's home so they could ready themselves for another day of training.

 _ **The Next Day**_

The Team had been slight trimmed as Sakura had been allowed to stop training as she had already mastered it. This is time she had gone to the bridge with Tazuna as his bodyguard.

The male genin were standing in front of their trees and looking at their marks. They had gained a lot from yesterday, especially Naruto, who had seemed to go up an almost unbelievable amount since getting help from Sakura.

Kakamei was looking up at his tree as he looked at how much he had gone. He had gone a good ways up as he had passed his markings from yesterday by a fair amount. As he went farther up the tree he saw less and less holes in the tree.

'Alright, slowly but surely I'm getting there. I still have a problem with getting up the tree as it hard to maintain miniscule amount of chakra in my feet. That's the hardest thing to do. But…' Kakamei said as he looked over to his fellow teammates as he saw they were all relatively close to each other.

'They're really close to me. I'd look pretty lame if I let them get to the top now wouldn't I?' Kakamei silently thought to himself as he readied himself for another run. He ran up the tree and kept going until he was a little after what he had come to last run before cutting the tree and jumping downwards and landed on his feet.

This time he wasted no time in thinking as he jumped right back into the action and raced up the tree. He made it slightly higher up this time before jumping down. This time he wasn't paying attention to his feet and landed on his back.

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked over as Kakamei stood up off the ground and slapped the dirt off of his body. He looked over to see his teammates staring at him. He scratched the back of his head.

"What?" Kakamei said as he laughed sheepishly. Sasuke scoffed.

"Loser." Sasuke said as he turned back to his tree. Kakamei became annoyed as clenched his fist before regained his composure and turned.

"I'm higher up the tree than you and you're not that far away from Naruto." Kakamei said as both Sasuke and Naruto became visibly angry.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Naruto yelled.

"You're not ahead of me and Naruto couldn't catch up to me in a million years. Even if you're a couple of centimeters now I'll make it up there before you two losers do." Sasuke said as he readied his kunai for the tree.

"Whatever." Kakamei said as Naruto readied his kunai.

"Don't count me out! I'm going to make it up there first! Believe it!" Naruto yelled as all three of them raced to their respective trees.

All of them raced up the tree and kept going. They reached their previous height and kept going until they their chakra wavered, marked the tree, and they fell down to the ground. Naruto was the first to fall, next was Kakamei, then Sasuke came falling down. One coming not too long after the other. They all land and look at each other's marks and looked at each other. And as expected they all turned and run back up to the trees.

 _ **Hours Later**_

About three or fours hours pass and all three of the genin are breathing heavily and standing on the ground. They hear leaves rustling as they all quickly turn to see Kakashi walking through the bushes. Kakashi raises his hand and does a little eye smile.

"Calm down, it's just me." Kakashi said as the boys let down their guards.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei." Kakamei said as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead. Kakashi completely walked, or wobbled, out of the bushes with a picnic basket. He walked into the middle of the tree opening and sat down the picnic basket.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to be resting while we trained." Naruto said as Kakashi just waved him off.

"Well, you've been out here training all day and it's lunch time already so take a quick break from climbing up the trees and get something to eat." Kakashi said as all three of the genin walked over and opened the picnic basket as they opened it to see a basket of uncooked fish and precooked rice.

"What is this?" Sasuke asked as Kakashi smiled.

"I said you were taking break from climbing trees I didn't say you were taking a break from training. Use your chakra to make a fire. A fire big enough to cook the fish but not too strong enough to char the fish." Kakashi explained as his Naruto whined.

"But Kakashi-sensei! I can't even use fire jutsu!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi sighed.

"I can use fire jutsu." Kakamei intervened.

"So can I." Sasuke said as sweat dripped from Naruto's head.

"I knew that." Naruto said as Kakashi slowly sat down.

"Alright, I'll gather some firewood for the fire." Kakamei said as he turned around and started walking through the forest. Naruto and Sasuke were standing there in silence.

"So, how has your training been going?" Kakashi said as Naruto perked up.

"I've gotten way better at this tree thing. I'm pretty high in the tree!" Naruto said as he pointed at his tree. Kakashi looked at the trees.

'They've come pretty far in just a couple of hours, especially Naruto. I would say that they'll be finished with this training not too long from now.' Kakashi said to himself.

BOOM!

The three males turned as they heard a huge boom of noise. Debris started to rise up through the sky and trees started to fall everywhere.

"Hey! That's the direction that Kakamei went into." Naruto yelled as they all watched as the bushes started to move. Since Kakashi was still out of commision Sasuke and Naruto pulled out their kunai and readied themselves for a fight. Just as they were about to jump into the bushes, and kill what was going to come out, but Kakamei walked out of the bushes with his back turned.

"What's up guys. Sorry for the wait but I found something better than fish." Kakamei said as he pulled out a relatively large wildebeest.

"This thing was just standing around and I was walking and it kicked me so I smacked it in the head. We can eat this for lunch." Kakamei said as his two teammates were surprised to see what Kakamei had done.

'It's amazing how much chakra this kid has. He probably has the most chakra as that I've ever met.' Kakashi thought to himself watched his student pull in the catch.

"You're looking at me like I'm some kind of monster. Help me cook this thing." Kakamei said as his teammates walked towards Kakamei. They talked for a while before all of them walking in opposite directions to go looking for wood.

Twenty minutes later the boys had come back together to the training ground with hand fulls of wood, ready to be used to cook the beast.

They piled all of the wood into the middle of the hunting ground as Kakamei and Sasuke let off Fire Ball Jutsu. The fire was set and the beast started to cook.

The wildebeest finished cooking and all four ninja ate the beast before the boys getting back up to restart their training. Kakashi stood up and turned.

"I'll be taking my leave now. Train hard." Kakashi said as walked away. His students turned around as they prepared for another round of training. As Kakashi walked away Kakamei looked up the tree.

'I have to make it up this tree first or they're going to make me look bad.' Kakamei thought as he cracked a slight smile. Sasuke saw and picked up his kunai.

"What are you laughing at?" Sasuke asked as Kakamei lost his smile.

"Nothing, just smiling at the chances of you getting up the tree before I do." Kakamei said as Sasuke frowned in annoyance. He was going to say something but he was stopped before he could say something.

"Hey! Never count me out! I'll be Hokage someday! I'll make it up this tree before you can even blink, BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled as Kakamei chuckled.

"You making it up there before I do makes me the grin. It actually makes me laugh." Kakamei teased as steam came from Naruto's ears from anger.

"Whatever! I'll just show you!" Naruto yelled as he rushed towards the tree. He raced up the tree. He made it to his previous marking and kept going before falling before he could get a full step ahead of that one, then fell downwards and landed on his head.

"Hahaha! You're surely going to get to the top at this rate." Kakamei laughed as Naruto stood up.

"Keep laughing but I'll end up making it up there first." Naruto said as he stood up. Kakamei watched as Naruto run up the tree again.

'Time to get back to the grindstone.' Kakamei thought as all three of genin went back to their training with trees.

 _ **Hours Later**_

Time seemed to pass faster than ever as hours had passed already and they sky had grown dark. The three genin boys were standing in front of their trees breathing heavily. They had made good progress up the trees as it seemed like it wouldn't be that much longer until they made it up their trees completely.

'We've come a long way since the beginning. Even though we have been doing this for two days it still feels weird that we haven't gotten to the top since Naruto talked to Sakura he's been able to catch up with me and Sasuke. That's a crazy jump. Maybe I should ask him about it.' Kakamei thinks as he hears a thud and Naruto lying on the ground.

"Ahhhhh what do you want?!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke looked embarrassed about what he was going to say next.

"Uh… well… the thing is…" Sasuke said trying to get out a sentence but was stuttering.

'Why is he so nervous?' Kakamei thought as he looked at his teammates.

"Well… earlier, Sakura gave you some advice. What was it?" Sasuke asked a both Kakamei and Naruto were surprised by Sasuke's asking for help.

'Maybe he'll actually give up something…' Kakamei thought as he listened in. Naruto, on the other hand, lost his look of confusion with a huge, sly smile.

"I'm not telling you!" Naruto screamed as Kakamei almost fell over.

'I can't believe I thought Naruto would tell Sasuke anything.' Kakamei thought.

A few more hours passed was the three students once again fell to the ground. Kakamei went to stand up but before he got the chance he heard, and felt, his stomach making the dreaded rumbling noise of hunger.

He quickly looked over as he heard two other grumbles. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other.

"Seems like we're all hungry. I guess it's time to go in and eat dinner." Kakamei said as he grabbed his kunai and threw it to the tree. Sasuke turned and started walking towards the house as Naruto looked up at his tree.

"I'm not going anywhere." Naruto said defiantly yet calm. Kakamei looked annoyed by Naruto's disagreement.

"Why not?" Kakamei asked as Naruto looked at him huffing.

"Because I'm going to beat you and Sasuke!" Naruto said as Kakamei shook his head.

Naruto's stomach made another attempt to make him eat. Naruto gripped his stomach and turned.

"You can't train on an empty song but stay here if you want to." Kakamei said as he walked to Tazuna's house. Naruto stayed back as another sound of hunger seeped out of his stomach as he started to scratch the back of his head.

"Hahaha, you know what? I think I'll go get some rest. I don't want you two to miss it when I make it up the tree first." Naruto said as he giggled and Kakamei just shook his head.

 _ **Minutes Later**_

After a walk through the woods and washing their hands the three boys sat down at the table. Kakamei was sitting beside Naruto who was locked in an eating competition with Sasuke. Naruto and Sasuke were scaring down food as they both simultaneously stood up and screamed, "MORE PLEASE!"

Kakamei was sitting down eating his food silently as his teammates both bent over and threw up the food onto the floor.

"Hey! Don't eat so much if you're just going to puke it out!" Sakura yelled as Naruto wiped his face and looked up.

"… I have to eat more than him." Sasuke said as Naruto looked at him.

"And I have to eat more than him. It's the only way to get stronger than him." Naruto said as Kakamei looked onto the confrontation in silence.

'You can't do it without yelling. Don't forget that I'm part of this climb to the top too but whatever.' Kakamei thought as he looked on. He had finished eating his rice and wanted more but thought it would be too much

"Yes, that is true, but it won't help you any if you just throw it all up." Kakashi explained as Kakamei nodded. The Daichiki then stood up and walked to the rice and fixed another bowl of rice. He sat back down and started eating.

"Kakamei, how are you still eating?" Sakura asked as Kakamei swallowed the rice in his mouth and looked at his female teammate.

"What do you mean?" Kakamei asked as he was clueless to what she was asking.

"I mean, yeah, Naruto and Sasuke have been scarfing down food and asking for more but you've eaten more than they have." Sakura asked as he thought for a second.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just hungry from training all day." Kakamei said as he waited a second before he went back to casually eating. Sasuke and Naruto looked down on Kakamei with sweat dripping from their foreheads.

"You know Kakamei, you're weird." Naruto said as Kakamei finished up his bowl of rice and shrugged.

"I don't know why but I have always eaten a lot of food. The only food that ever seems to fill me up is dango. It's just so good but they didn't have any." Kakamei answered as Naruto and Sasuke just sat down.

 _ **Minutes Later**_

After the dishes had been cleaned off of the table. All of the residents were sitting around said table drinking water or tea. Sakura was standing as she stared at a picture That's was sitting on the shelf. It was a picture of Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari. They were all standing happily but there was a slight problem. There was another figure that was standing over Inari. It seemed to be a man but his face had been ripped off of the picture.

Sakura looked at the picture as she wondered what had happened to the man in the photo.

"Tazuna, what's wrong with this? Why was the man's face torn off? Inari, you kept glancing at it all dinner." Sakura said as the room became dead silent as Inari lowered his head. All of the clients stopped what they were doing. Tazuna looked down at the table and Tsunami stopped cleaning.

"It was my husband." Tsunami said lowly as Tazuna looked up.

"They used to call him a hero in these lands." Tazuna said. Inari immediately jumped up.

"Inari, where are you going?" His mother asked but the kid didn't give an answer. He continued to walk out. Kakamei took a sip of his tea

"Father! You know you can't talk to him when Inari is around!" Tsunami said as she raced after her son.

"Now that was rude." Kakamei said as everyone in the room fell silent.

"I take it there's a story behind all of this." Kakashi said, urging Tazuna to spill the history of this mystery.

"He wasn't his real father…" Tazuna said as Kakamei sipped the rest of his tea and stood up. He started to walk out of the room.

"Kakamei, where are you going? Tazuna's about to tell us about the man in the picture." Naruto said as Kakamei shook his head.

"Nahh, these type of stories aren't for me. I'm gonna take a walk. Sorry Tazuna. I don't mean to be rude." Kakamei said as Tazuna just waved his hand.

"I don't mind." Tazuna said as Kakamei walked out of the room. The room was quiet before Tazuna spoke up.

"Now that I' thinking about it that kid doesn't really seem to be a real people person." Tazuna said as Kakashi sighed.

"He's really not the type of person who likes to listen to sentimental things. Don't worry about it. Now, back to your story." Kakashi insisted for Tazuna to go back to his story.

"Alright…" Tazuna said as he continued with his story.

Kakamei was walking through the village as he looked onto the ocean. He was about to continue walking as he heard crying in the distance. He looked to his right to see a distant figure sitting on the dock. He walked closer until he noticed the figure turn into a person, that person turning into a kid, and the kid turning out to be Inari.

'Why is this kid out here crying by himself? I know he seemed sad by Sakura asking that question about the picture but crying? I'll go talk to him.' Kakamei thought to himself as he walked up to Inari.

"What are you crying for?" Kakamei asked as Inari was surprised as he jumped.

"What do you want?" Inari asked as Kakakmei looked down.

"Well, I was just wondering why you're crying." Kakamei stated as Inari turned.

"It's none of your business! Leave me alone!" Inari screamed as Kakamei started to get slightly annoyed.

'This kid… is rude AND annoying. We better make progress soon." Kakamei thought as he looked up.

"Before I walked out Tazuna said something about your dad. Is that why you're crying because you're father left or something?" Kakamei thought as Inari seemed to get even more sad.

"SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Inari yelled as Kakamei finally sat down on the side of the dock.

"So… he's not around anymore, what happened to him?" Kakamei asked as Inari didn't answer as tears ran down his face.

"Oh, so now you're silent. Well, if it makes you feel any better neither of my parents are around any more. Both died a long time ago." Kakamei said out loud as Inari paused his crying as he looked at Kakamei, who ignored the kid's staring and looked out onto the water.

"You surprised that you aren't the only person who has lost parents?" Kakamei asked he stood up and dusted off his pants. He turned back to land.

"Well, I'll be taking my leave. Your mom will be here soon. Now that you know that someone similar to you is out in the world it shows you that you can't be a dick to everyone because you're angry about something that's already happened." Kakamei said as he walked away. Inari looked at Kakamei as he eventually disappeared into the darkness.

Not too long after Kakamei left Inari's mother came running to Inari.

"So that's where you've been! Tsunami said as she hugged Inari from behind.

"I'm sorry." Inari said very lightly as Tsunami let out tears as she held Inari closely. In the distance Kakamei was standing on a tree branch.

"You can't be serious. I have a talk with the kid and he's still crying! Why is his mother crying?! Now you can't say I didn't try to cheer him, now I don't care about what happens." Kakamei said as he jumped down from the tree and walked back to Tazuna's house.

'Why was he crying anyways? Yeah, his father's not around anymore so why was he crying. It already happened so there's nothing he can do to change it. So why was he so sad? I guess I can't understand someone like him.' Kakamei thought to himself as he continued to walk.

 _ **Minutes Later**_

Kakamei walked through the door as everyone, except Naruto, was still sitting down around the table.

"Hey, where did you go?" Sakura asked as Kakamei just sat down.

"I was just walking around and walking off some of those calories. So, where's Naruto?" Kakamei answered.

"He went off to train some more." Sakura said as Kakamei nodded.

"Oh, I don't think he was in the best of states to go training but I guess it's too late now." Kakamei said as he leaned back onto the floor.

"He wants to show Inari what it means to be a real hero." Sakura said as Kakamei scoffed.

"I already talked to Inari and he just continued to cry so I guess he's still a crybaby." Kakamei said as Tazuna looked up.

"It's not his fault. His only father figure was killed by Gatou's men." Tazuna said. Kakamei sighed and stood up.

"You can't make progress if you keep making excuses as to why you can't move forward. He has to get over it because it already happened. I'm going to take a guess and say that Inari can't manipulate time so he can't go back in time and change it and, he doesn't have the strength to get back at Gatou. His only chance to not go insane is to let go of his emotions about his father." Kakamei said as he walked past everyone.

"That's just my two cents. I'm going to bed. See you guys in the morning." Kakamei said as he walked out of the room.

The room had become silent as they let Kakamei's words sit in their heads. Sasuke was the one who felt them the most as he stood up and walked out of the room.

"Sasuke…" Sakura said as Sasuke kept walking.

"I'm going to bed." Sasuke said as he left the room. Tazuna's eyes were closed and Kakashi sighed.

"What's with those kids? They seem to have weight on their shoulders that kids just shouldn't have on their shoulders." Tazuna said as Kakashi looked at the bridge builder.

"They're shinobi, they have to live with the weight that comes with becoming ninja. But those three, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakamei, have weight on their shoulders because of the way they grew up. All three of them had to grow up with no parents, no family. That is why they have that weight on their shoulders." Kakashi said as the room was once again in silence.

"Well, it's getting late. I need to rest so I can continue to build the bridge. Tazuna said as everyone cleared the room for the night.


	8. Chapter 7

Morning came quickly as everyone woke up and made their way to the dinner table.

"Good morning everyone." Kakamei said as he looked around to see everyone sitting down around the table well, almost everyone.

"So, Naruto didn't come back last night?" Kakamei said.

"Yeah, he's not here. Apparently he was outside all night practicing that tree climbing stuff." Tazuna answered as Kakamei sat down to a plate of food, a bowl of rice, and a cup of tea. He started to eat the food. Sakura sighed at the comment.

"He's probably gone crazy by this point. For all I know, he could be dead by now for using too much chakra." Sakura said as Kakamei sipped on his tea.

"I certainly hope he's okay. A child spending the night in the woods all alone? I don't like that one bit." Tsunami said as Kakamei finished drinking his tea and sat back.

"You have nothing to worry about. Naruto may be somewhat of an idiot but he's also a full fledged shinobi. He can handle himself just fine." Kakashi said. Sasuke was the next to speak up.

"Sakura has a point. That loser is such a loser. He's probably dead somewhere." Sasuke said as he stood up and started to walk away.

"Sasuke, where are you going?" Sakura asked as Sasuke looked back.

"For a walk." He responded as Kakamei smiled and wiped his face.

"Wait up, I'm coming too." Kakamei said as he stood up and walked away from the table.

"Thank for the meal, we'll be back sooner or later." Kakamei said as he and Sasuke walked out of the house.

When they walked out of the house and made it to the woods.

"So, where do you think Naruto is?" Kakamei asked as Sasuke scoffed.

"Why did you even come? I just came for a walk." Sasuke question as Kakamei just continued to walk.

"I came because I wanted to see how far Naruto's gotten up the tree. It would be a real shame if Naruto made it to the top before I did, wouldn't it?" Kakamei said as he looked around.

"Whatever. He's probably at the trees from earlier. He's probably passed out by now." Sasuke said as the two genin continued to walk.

Minutes later they were walking as Kakamei felt a breeze of cold brush past him.

"Hey, Sasuke, did you feel that?" Kakamei asked as Sasuke looked over to teammate.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke said. Kakamei looked around.

"It got cold all of a sudden." Kakamei responded as Sasuke turned and kept walking.

"You're just losing your mind. Get over it, the training ground is up ahead." Sasuke said as Kakamei shrugged it off.

"It must be these woods. It's the second time it's happened." Kakaei said aloud.

'It's more than that. The masked fighter must be close to me.' Kakamei thought to himself as he kept walking.

As they walked towards Kakamei could see two people sitting in the middle of the woods. One was Naruto, who was sitting on the ground, while the other was a girl who was holding a basket. As they moved closer the girl started to walk towards the two genin. Kakamei found his muscles tensing and his mind starting to go blank.

'What's happening? My body it's…" Kakamei thought as he prepared himself to jump but as he was going to make a quick, sudden movement against the girl. Before he was able to the girl passed.

The girl passed him quickly but, in the instant their paths crossed Kakamei felt an almost death threatening cold take over him before a surge of heat flowed through his body. His muscles untensed, thoughts came rushing into his mind, and unknowingly he took in a breath, something he had failed to do since he came into arm's length of the girl. Kakamei turned as the girl was now out of sight. Kakamei stood there for a second before he heard Naruto's voice.

"Hey, Kakamei, are you okay?" Naruto asked which btoke Kakamei out of his trance. Kakamei regained his composure and turned to his teammates.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." Kakamei answered as he turned. Before Naruto could insert his rebuttal Sasuke punched him in the head.

"Owww! What did you do that for?!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke looked at his teammate.

"You're such a loser. Did you forget about breakfast?" Sasuke asked as Naruto just laughed like a child and Sasuke turned his head quickly. Kakamei looked on whilel his mind was somewhere else.

'That kid was definitely the masked boy, so why did I freeze up? I know I should have confronted him right then and there. But, for some reason my entire body completely froze up. It was like my body was telling me to not fight him. Then there was that sudden burst of heat going through my body. That feeling contradicted my feelings before. At that moment it felt as if I should have turned and attacked him. That kid… I need to see that kid again.' Kakamei thought. He shook his head violently and looked up into the sky.

'It's over now. I have a feeling I'll see him again when Zabuza shows up so I think I can wait until then.' Kakamei thought as he looked at his teammates.

"Looks like you haven't made too much progress." Kakamei said as he looked at his teammate. Naruto grumbled at the comment as Kakamei smiled at the response.

"And for a second I was scared that you would make it to the top before I did." Kakamei said as Naruto stood up off of the ground.

"Alright! Then let's see who gets to the top first!" Naruto yelled as Kakamei and Sasuke walked to their trees and pulled out their kunai. They walked back a decent distance away and started training.

A Few Hours Later

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled as her and Kakashi walked into a clearing in the forest.

"Knowing Naruto he could be anywhere. And Sasuke and Kakamei haven't come back either. I wonder where they are." Sakura said as a kunai came flying a her feet. She and Kakashi looked up into the trees to see Naruto lying on a branch.

"Naruto can climb that high by only using his chakra, that's great!" Sakura said as Kakashi looked at his student.

"What do you think? High enough for you guys? It's a long way down isn't it?" Naruto said as he jumped up. Before he could get a really good balance he started to wobble. He fell forward which scared Kakashi and Sakura. Before he was able to fall far off the tree he spun to the bottom of the branch and stood up straight.

"Haha! Just kidding." Naruto said. The boy laughed as Sakura became visibly annoyed.

"We were worried about you Naruto!" Sakura said as Kakashi sighed.

"Ughhh, why do I feel that this is going to end badly?" Kakashi asked himself out loud as Naruto's laughter ceased as his feet popped off the tree branch. Kakashi and Sakura's eyes widened as the genin proceeded to fall to the ground.

"You just had to push it didn't you?! Show off!" Sakura yelled as Naruto continued to fall. Just then there were footsteps running up the tree. Just then Sasuke's hand reached out and grabbed Naruto's ankle.

"You just had to push it didn't you?" Kakamei said as Kakashi and Sakura looked to the left and saw Kakamei sitting on the tree next to Naruto's.

"You really are a total loser aren't you?" Sasuke rhetorically asked as everyone looked to him.

"Wow, Sasuke! You're so cool!" Sakura yelled as Kakashi cracked an eye smile.

"If I'm still sane by the time I finish my training it'll be a miracle." Kakashi said.

In Gatou's hideout Zabuza was sitting down on a sofa as Haku was standing next to him. Zabuza had an apple in hand and as he squished it and let the remains drop on the floor.

"You're recovering quickly." Haku said as Zabuza looked at his hand.

"It won't be too long from now." Zabuza said as he stood up.

"So, what's wrong with you?" Zabuza asked as Haku looked confused.

"What do you mean?" Haku asked. Zabuza scoffed and walked past him and started doing minor stretches.

"Ever since you came from that walk you took earlier you have been acting weird. Did something happen to you?" The rogue ninja asked Haku. Haku was slightly taken back by the question.

"No, nothing is wrong. Maybe resting for so long has dulled your senses." Haku responded as Zabuza looked at the child. He looked carefully as Haku just looked as innocent as ever.

"Whatever, be prepared, it won't be long before we have to battle Kakashi once again." Zabuza uttered as Haku just nodded.

Hours Later in the Forest

Kakamei, Sasuke, and Naruto were all at the top of their trees looking at each other.

"Hey Kakamei, loser, let's go back." Sasuke said as Naruto let out a huge smile and Kakamei nodded.

"Okay!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry." Kakamei said as they all made it down the tree. As all three of the enin stood on the ground Naruto nearly fell to the ground as Kakamei ad Naruto wrapped their arms around him.

"Looks like you used all of that chakra." Kakamei said as they started to walk.

"You're such a loser." Sasuke said as Naruto just giggled.

"I made it all the way up the tree but, who made it up there first?" Kakamei asked as they all looked at each other.

"I think that we can all come to the agreement and say that I made it to the top first." Naruto said as Sasuke cracked a slight smile.

"In your dreams. If I let you beat me I wouldn't be able to live with myself." Sasuke said as Kakamei laughed and Naruto started to jump in.

"Hey, calm down, if you don't stop you're going to fall." Kakamei said with a smile on his face. The three argued about what had happened all the way to the bridge builder's home.

Minutes Later

The door to Tazuna's home was opened and the dinner that was going on was halted. The three genin walked in as everyone turned their head to see who had walked in.

"What have you been up to? You look like something the cat dragged in." Tazuna said as Naruto looked up.

"Haha. All three of us made it. All the way to the top." Naruto answered as Kakashi looked up at his students.

"Good, now we move on to something else. Starting tomorrow you are going to bodyguards for the bridge builder." Kakashi said as Naruto became visibly happy as he jumped up and leaned back as Kakamei and Sasuke groaned.

"You are such a loser!" Sasuke exclaimed as Kakamei shook his head.

"I told you this would happen!" Kakamei yelled as almost everyone except Inari started to laugh.

A Couple Minutes Later

Everyone was sitting down at the table with a plate in front of them.

"Only a couple more days and the bridge will be complete and I have all of you to be thankful for that." Tazuna said as his daughter quickly said something afterwards.

"You've all done great but you still have to be careful." Tsunami said as Tazuna went on to ask Kakashi a question that had been bugging him for so long.

"I've been meaning to ask you this for a while now," Tazuna started, " Why did you continue to protect me even though you found out I lied to you." Kakashi crossed his hands and answered.

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the guidance of a strong leader cowardice cannot survive." Kakashi said as Tsunami and Tazuna were taken aback by what Kakashi had said.

"Huh?" Tsunami asked as Kakashi answered.

"It's a quote from the first Hokage." Kakashi said as the two now understood. Inari looked over to Kakamei then he looked over to Naruto.

He thought back to a memory that he had long remembered of his father, of him saving the entire village. He also saw an image of what happened to him when that same bravery had gotten him tortured and killed. Tears started to roll down his face as he allowed himself to let his emotions take over him.

"But why…" the child let out as Naruto caught on to what he had just said.

"What? What did you just say?" Naruto asked as Inari slammed his hands on the table and stood up.

"All this stupid training is just a waste of time! Gatou's got an entire army and they'll beat you down! They'll destroy you! These cool things you all say, it doesn't amount to anything. No matter what you do the strong always win and the weak always lose!" Inari boasted as everyone fell silent for a second.

'I talk to the kid and he actually learns nothing. Now I don't like the kid no matter what the hell this kid went through, he's a complete wuss. That's the last time I try to help someone like him again.' Kakamei thought to himself as he shook his head before being stopped by an outburst by Naruto.

"Speak for yourself. It won't be like that for me, you got that kid?" Naruto asked as he laid his head back onto the table. Naruto's sentence made Inari even more mad.

"Why don't you stay quiet?! Just looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country, you're just butting in! You're always laughing and playing around, you don't have any idea what does it feels like to be treated like dirt and suffer!" Inari complained as this triggered something in Naruto angry. He could comprehend what it felt like the most. To be treated differently, discriminated against, mistreated, hatred, suffering, Naruto knew it the best.

"Listen to yourself, whining and complaining like some sorry little victim. It's pathetic! You can drown in your own tears for all I care! You're nothing but a coward." Naruto said as Inari fell silent.

'He listens when Naruto says something but when I have a talk with him he still cries. What a load of bull.' Kakamei thought to himself. Everyone was surprised by Naruto's outburst.

"Naruto! You went too far!" Sakura chastised as Naruto didn't answer, he just raised from his chair, and walked out of the room. Inari sood there as he looked as if he was on the brink of crying once again.

Inari just quickly turned to look at the sea again.

The Next Morning

Morning came slowly as the shinobi and the bridge stood on the outside of the house, talking to Tsunami. Each of them had their own bag on their back.

"Kakashi, are you sure that it's okay for you to go to work today? You're body isn't completely healed, ya' know." Tsunami nagged worryingly as Kakashi just brushed it off.

"I'll be fine, don't worry. However, if you can keep an eye on Naruto that would be great. As usual he's pushed himself too far and will probably be sleeping all day today." Kakashi said as Tsunami nodded. Kakashi then looked over to Kakamei.

"So, you're going to train a little while longer in the forest?" Kakashi asked as Kakamei nodded.

"Yeah, I've been using chakra control well so I'm going to try to get better. I probably won't be long so I'll meet you guys later." Kakamei said as Kakashi simply nodded as the bridge builder turned towards the building sight.

"Alright everyone, let's go." Tazuna said as the group separated. The group following the bridge builder went straight as Kakamei took a left turn and started heading towards the forest.

Minutes Later

Kakamei made it to the forest clearing as he dropped the bag on his back and started doing some stretches. He finished his stretches and started looked at the sky.

"Today will be the day I start trying to use my Kekkei Genkai." Kakamei said started by doing seven hand signs and held his hand palm up. He started to form a fire.

"Now, if I can hold this fire for one minute I can add Wind Release to it." Kakamei said as he held this position for as long as he could.

Thirty seconds later Kakamei was struggling to keep the fire going. After the thirty-six second mark the flame was snuffed out and Kakamei looked at his hand.

"Ha, this is going to be harder than I thought it was going to be." Kakamei said as he did the hand signs once again as he made a flame that was larger in size this time.

This time, instead thirty seconds it was cut down to twenty seconds. His chakra became inconsistent the flame was snuffed once again.

"So, it can't be too large of the chakra will start to fluctuate and then I can't bring back into me. If I can't get through this part how am I going to add wind to it. Well, I only have all day." Kakamei said as he weaved the signs and started once again.

Five Minutes Later

Time flew by faster than expected as Kakamei was starting to get slightly sweaty. He wiped the sweat of of his forehead and looked at his hand.

"This time I'll make it relatively small and try to contain it." Kakamei said as fire formed in the palm of his hand. The flame barely reached out to Kakamei's fingertips. He held it for ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds, forty seconds, fifty seconds, fifty five seconds, sixty.

Kakamei made it to sixty seconds before releasing the fire jutsu. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

"I feel accomplished." Kakamei admitted to himself as he cracked a smiled.

"Now U have to add Wind Release to it." Kakamei said as weaved the hands sings once more and the flame that barely caressed his palm appeared. Kakamei looked at his hand.

"Now how am I supposed to add Wind Release onto this?!" Kakamei screamed. He squeezed his hand and opened it to see that the fire was still burning. He looked at his hand surprised.

"What's happening…?" Kakamei said aloud as he looked at his hand.

'Now that I think about it it's been longer than thirty seconds and I don't feel any strain or problem with keeping the fire in tact. But I was having so much trouble holding it just a minute ago.' Kakamei thought as he dispersed the jutsu.

"A Kekkei Genkai is supposed to come to me naturally. Having it is supposed to come easily, so if I clear my mind it should come easily." Kakamei said as he focused and created a flame without weaving any hand signs. He looked at his hand surprised as he raised his other hand.

"Now, if I can create Wind Release…" Kakamei said as he used his chakra to create a spiral of wind spin in his hand.

"Wow, who knew this would be this easy. Now all I have to do is push them together." Kakamei calmly stated as he pushed the two palms into each other. The fire and wind came together. At first Kakamei could see something more than just fire occuring a huge burst of force hit Kakamei and dispelled both jutsu in his hand and sent him flying through the air. He kept flying until his back hit a tree. The genin's body landed on the ground. He looked down at his hands to see black marks on his palms.

"Looks like I can't control my chakra good enough for it." Kakamei said as he jumped off of the ground.

Before he could resume his training he felt a chill run down his spine. It felt like the cold he had felt earlier but much colder. He turned around to face the bridge. He took in a deep breath.

"That's where the rest of my team is, no, that's where the masked ninja is. I have to see that kid. Some force in my body is telling me to find this kid." Kakamei said as he started walking. Before he could get far he could feel the burning sensation he had felt before, when had first been close to the masked ninja.

Before the sensation wasn't as strong, it wasn't as hot. The sense of heat inside of his body at the moment felt as if it was ready for combat. Kakame's thoughts weren't fading like last time but it was as if he couldn't control them though.

'What is this feeling? I feel as if I could do anything right now. I need to meet this masked man. Why do I feel this way when I can sense his presence? Why can I sense his presence more than anyone else's? Coming on this mission wasn't coincidence or luck of the draw. I was meant to come to the Land of Waves, I was meant to meet this masked boy.' Kakamei thought as he we from walking to speed walking. He went from speed walking to running. He went from running to jumping into the trees and jumping from branch to branch.

"I need to hurry… I can feel his presence colliding with mine… just like his used to so long ago…!" Kakamei said as he raced to the bridge.

On the bridge Haku was lying on the ground in front of Zabuza as the rogue ninja stood over the boy, extremely surprised that Haku had just been outsped by a lowly genin.

'Impossible! No one's faster than Haku!' Zabuza mentally screamed as Sasuke's feet landed on the ground.

"You're not that quick. I wonder, what else were you wrong about." Sasuke said as he looked at Zabuza. Kakashi looked fairly happy as he looked at Zabuza.

"You made a big mistake by insulting these ninja and calling them brats. That's sure to bring out Sasuke's attitude. He's the best young fighter of the Hidden Leaf Village. And Sakura here is the sharpest mind." Kakashi boasted as Sakura tried to hide her ego from coming out.

'Hehehe! Cha! Am I bad or what!?' Sakura thought as Kakashi finished.

"And don't forget about Kakamei, the hot headed lion of the Hidden Leaf. Also, last but not least we have Naruto. Our number one hyperactive knucklehead." Kakashi said. Zabuza looked down but didn't look the slightest bit worried. He even started to laugh.

"Haku, if we keep going like this we might end up being the victims." Zabuza said as Haku stood off of the ground and looked at his opponents.

"Zabuza, before we begin once more I must say that the heat from before is coming this way." Haku said as Zabuza just shrugged it off.

"It's probably one of the other brats under Kakashi's wing." Zabuza said as Haku shook his head.

"It's less of a boy and more of a beast. Even I must say that it makes my body freeze, completely cold. That Leaf ninja wasn't far off. The boy is really a hot lion." Haku said. Zabuza looked down at his child apprentice and scoffed.

"Whatever! Haku, kill the kids. That Kakashi is mine." Zabuza said as Haku nodded.

"Yes sir." Haku said as everyone stared each other down.

And that's another Chapter! Don't forget get to Review/Follow/Favorite


	9. Chapter 8

**Alright! New Chapter's out! Sorry it's been a while since I posted but the chapter's out now so I guess it's worth the wait. Now, before I start the chapter I'd like to ask if you guys would review this story** **. I don't know how you guy's feel about the story so I don't if I should make improvements in my writing or change up some things. If you could take the time to review it would me a lot.**

 **Without further ado please enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Kakamei was still jumping from tree trying to make it to the bridge. He could feel his skin getting goosebumps. He stopped jumping from branch to branch and looked over to see Naruto jumping too.

"Hey! Naruto!" Kakamei yelled as Naruto turned his head. Kakamei jumped near the tree Naruto was.

"You headed to the bridge?" Kakamei asked as Naruto nodded.

"That's where I'm headed right now. We need to hurry." Kakamei said as turned and started jumping through the trees. Naruto followed suit immediately.

"So, Kakamei, What were doing all the way out here?" Naruto asked.

"I was doing some training." Kakamei said as he continued to jump through the trees.

 _ **Minutes Later**_

Naruto and Kakamei jumped down from the trees and looked on as they saw the bridge. Naruto looked on to see mist covering the bridge.

"I can see the bridge!" Naruto said relatively loudly as Kakamei put his hand over Naruto's mouth.

"You're a shinobi! You have to be subtle." Kakamei said as he let go of Naruto's mouth and the blonde kid wiped his mouth.

"Whatever! They're already fighting! We need to hurry up!" Naruto stated, once again, rather loudly as Kakamei looked over and shook his head.

'I warned him and he's still yelling.' Kakamei thought to himself as he felt his legs moving forward. He grabbed his thigh which stopped his leg movement.

'It went away slightly when I saw Naruto but just being in a close vicinity with the masked fighter. I have to see this boy before I can figure out what is happening to me.' Kakamei thought as he looked over.

"Hey, Naruto…" Kakamei said as his voice dwindled away as the Daichiki saw that Naruto had disappeared. Kakamei sighed.

"You have to be kidding. The kid jumped off to fight already." Kakamei said as he looked onto the fighting grounds.

"I'll see him when I get there. Now I need to find a way to observe the way the masked guy fights. Maybe Sasuke is fighting good enough to show me something decent." Kakamei said aloud as he started to walk down the unfinished bridge.

As Kakamei came closer to the fighting scene his chakra started to react. It started to seep out o his bod. It was red and flushed over his entire body.

'My chakra is coming out of my body. This is going to be problem if I'm going to sneak in. I have to see this masked man before I lose complete control of my body.' Kakamei thought as he walked through the mist.

In front of Kakashi, Sakura, and Zabuza a huge cloud of smoke poofed out of nowhere and a goofy looking kid stood in the middle of the battlefield. It even caught everyone's attention as Haku stood up straight.

"Number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja." Haku said to himself as he watched the scene.

"Naruto Uzumaki is here!" Naruto said as he stood in a ridiculous pose. Everyone looked surprised and stood in silence for a slight second.

"I'm here now so there's nothing to worry about." Naruto said confidently as Sakura perked up.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Naruto stood confidently as he looked onto his friends and enemies alike.

"You know those movies where the hero usually shows up at the last minute and kicks the bad guy's butt? Well that's what I'm gonna do! Right now! Believe it!" Naruto yelled as Zabuza turned his head and grunted.

"This brat again." Zabuza said. Sasuke was lying on the ground with an annoyed face.

'Shut up you show off.' Sasuke thought to himself.

'What an idiot! If he had stayed hidden he would have been much more effective!' Kakashi also thought to himself. Haku was the one who had the most emotion about the appearance.

'This boy!' Haku thought as he recalled back to the time in the woods he had met Naruto.

'If this child is here then the Daichiki boy is near. I knew that it was getting hot in here. I can already feel my blood getting hot. I need to meet this child. I feel like we were meant to meet here.' Haku thought as he looked on.

"Look out! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as the two jonin looked surprised. Zabuza turned and threw four shuriken at Naruto.

"Naruto, move!" Kakashi yelled as the boy seemed to be stuck in his feet. Just then Naruto felt a strong burst of heat brush in front of his body. Naruto blinked quickly as when he opened his eyes he saw Kakamei's back. Naruto took in a quick gasp as Kakamei shook his head.

"You have to be kidding. For a superhero who's going to come in and kick some ass you seem to have cold feet, don't you?" Kakamei said as he lowered his arm and turned to look at Haku.

"Kakamei!" Sakura yelled as Kakashi let out a slight sigh of relief. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

'Great, two show offs. And one of them almost got killed.' Sasuke thought as they looked on.

'The kid is here. I can feel it… my blood is starting to rush through my body.. I feel like I have to move, to act. I can feel our chakras slightly reacting to each other. Haku turned slightly.

"Zabuza, these boys, please let me fight them on my own. Let me fight them my own way." Haku asked as Kakamei readied his kunai.

"Bring it on!" Naruto yelled as Kakamei just looked on.

'He can scream all he wants but even Naruto knows that we still have to fight the id first.' Kakamei thought to himself as Zabuza looked on.

"So you want me to leave this to you, huh, Haku? As usual you're too soft." Zabuza said a as he shook his head. Haku lowered his head.

"Forgive me." Haku said as Sasuke managed to get on one knee.

'Soft?' Sasuke asked himself as Naruto and Kakamei stood in silence.

'I can't make any sudden movements or he'll jump at us.' Kakamei thought to himself as he looked over at Sasuke.

'He's not damaged too much. He's not looking too bruised while Naruto's pretty good. I would be at 100 percent but that attack that happened when I was finishing my training. If I'm being honest I'm not feeling any type of pain but I feel off. I'm not having those impulses that I had before when I first saw the boy. I still have a feeling of wanting to fight this guy but it's something different.' Kakamei thought to himself as he looked at Haku.

"One way or another I'm going to take off that mask and tear you apart!" Naruto yelled as Kakamei looked back at his teammate.

'And then this kid.' Kakamei thought to himself.

'It's impossible. Naruto and Kakamei can't compare to this guy. I've got to…' Kakashi thought as he attempted to make a move towards his students as Zabuza took a step forward and cutting off Kakashi from his students.

"Don't even think about it. You remember the score between us right? If you go after Haku I go after the bridge builder." Zabuza confidently stated as Kakashi understood quickly understood that he couldn't protect Sakura and the bridge builder, keeping Zabuza at bay, and also helping Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakamei with Haku. For now he would have to trust in his students to fend for themselves.

"Relax Kakashi," Zabuza said nonchalantly, "Let's sit back and enjoy the show. Let's see how they do. Two on one." Kakashi sighed and looked on, hoping that Naruto and Kakamei would be able to prove a chance against Haku.

While the adults were handling their business Naruto and Kakamei were still in a standoff against Haku. Naruto pointed at Haku as Kakamei loosened his body a bit as he noticed that he was still standing in the same position of defense.

"You! And that phony mask! You were making it up and you were actually with Zabuza! You think you can get away with a stunt like that!?" Naruto yelled as Kakamei rolled his eyes.

"Naruto, shut up! It's already happened." Kakamei sayed as Naruto looked at Kakamei.

"I'm sorry." Haku said quietly as Kakamei and Naruto looked surprised at the boy's answer.

"But as your sensei said, deceiving your opponent, taking them off of their guard, that is the way of the shinobi. Please don't take it personally." Haku said as he leaned backwards slightly and dodged a kunai that was dashing towards his face. Naruto and Kakamei looked over to see Sasuke kneeling on the ground with a surprised expression on his face.

'I couldn't even sense him. Maybe I'm losing my edge… no. It's that ice. Ignoring the fact that I couldn't sense him I couldn't even smell him! There's something about that ice that's messing with me.' Kakamei thought.

"I haven't forgotten about you, not even for an instant." Haku said calmly as Sasuke became a little annoyed.

'So that's where Sasuke is. He's pinned down.' Naruto thought as Haku turned his body and looked at Sasuke.

"Some warriors accept defeat gracefully. They know when they are beaten. Others do not. So be it. Let us finish this then." Haku said as he started to walk towards the ice.

"Hey! Where are you going!?" Naruto yelled as Kakamei stood in silence.

"Don't worry, Naruto. Our fight will start soon enough." Haku said as he walked into the ice. Kakamei's eyes opened as he saw the boy continue to walk until he was completely engulfed in the ice.

'This guy can walk into ice! That's crazy! I wonder what else he can do with that ice?' Kakamei thought in amazement.

Sasuke, on the other hand, wasn't thinking of how amazing it was to see someone walk into ice but how he was going to keep his life in the next couple of exchanges.

Haku looked down onto Sasuke as he readied for his next volley of his attack. Sasuke started to reach into his pouch for a kunai before he was stopped by the voice of Haku behind him. Sasuke froze with a mix of surprise and fear coursing through his mind. Sasuke started to shake as he turned his body to see Haku holding his senbon, ready for another round.

'He transported himself. How?' Sasuke thought as Haku's image started to appear on every ice mirror. Sasuke looked around as they all had senbon in hand. Sasuke was going to attempt to make a break and dodge. Before he was able to move a muscle he was bombarded by senbon from every direction.

As the senbon stopped Sasuke fell back onto the ground as he had scratches all over his body. Naruto and Sakura screamed Sasuke's name as Kakamei stood in silence as he watched Haku fight. Kakashi looked on the fight with worry.

'Just what is this guy!? He's hitting Sasuke in every direction! Where are they even coming from?! How is he even doing that?!'' Naruto thought to himself.

'He's incredibly fast.' Kakamei thought.

Sasuke had gotten up from the ground and was kneeling once again. He was thinking of possibilities. Sasuke thought for a second before coming to a conclusion.

'We're in the perfect positions to attack. Sasuke's on the inside while Naruto and I are on the outside. If we attack together we could destroy these things.' Kakamei thought as he turned to look at Naruto as he saw nothing but a figure of the boy where he had been standing.

Kakamei closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened his eyes he saw Naruto kneeling next to Sasuke.

"This kid is going to be the death of me one day." Kakamei said aloud as he shook his head.

"Hey! I snuck in here to save you!" Naruto said as Sasuke dropped back in utter surprise that Naruto would do something so stupid.

"Pretty cool move huh Sasuke?" Naruto asked as Sasuke came back to his senses and became angry at the knucklehead ninja.

Sakura and Kakashi both had different responses to what Naruto had done. Sakura looked dumbfounded by this as Kakashi just looked with disappoint but a hint of expecting his student to do something like this.

"Naruto, you're supposed to sneak up on your enemy, not your ally." Kakashi said as Kakamei cracked a light smile.

"Well, no matter what dumb he does you can't say the kid doesn't give you a good laugh." Kakamei said as Sasuke looked as if he had something different to say on the matter.

"NARUTO! YOU ARE SUCH A LOSER! YOU'RE A SHINOBI! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO THINK BEFORE YOU MOVE!" Sasuke yelled as Naruto became angry at Sasuke not appreciating the fact that he had jumped in to save him.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!? YOU SHOULD THANK ME FOR COMING IN HERE TO SAVE YOU!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke looked just as angry as Naruto.

"IF WE'RE BOTH IN HERE… FORGET IT! I'M DONE WITH YOUR MISTAKES!" Sasuke blurted as Naruto yelled back.

"YEAH, AND I'M TIRED OF YOUR ATTITUDE!" Naruto used as a rebuttal as Kakamei watched from the outside with an indifferent face.

"Calm down! It already happened! Get over it!" Kakamei yelled, but not as loudly as Naruto and Sasuke. They both looked at Kakamei with fire in their eyes.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE JUST AS MUCH OF A LOSER AS NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled at Kakamei as the Daichiki didn't answer but he was obviously annoyed by the comment.

Kakashi watched from the distance with a face of pure annoyance.

'Naruto's building a solid reputation as being the most clueless ninja in all of history. The more he "helps" the worse things get. And it's not helping that they're arguing right in the middle of battle.' Kakashi thought to himself as he watched Sasuke stand back up.

The Uchiha boy turned and looked at the mirrors, turning his back on Naruto.

"That's it! I'm going to destroy these mirrors right now!" Sasuke yelled as he started to weave hands signs. When he stopped he took in a deep breath.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as he let out a ball of fire from his mouth and it hit onto the mirrors. Seconds later Sasuke stopped the jutsu. Sasuke expected to see the mirrors melting but he was astonished to see the mirrors had slight drops of water running down them. Even this wasn't an accomplishment since the water droplets sunk right back into the mirror.

"So regular fire style doesn't work on im?" Kakamei rhetorically asked out loud as Naruto jumped onto Sasuke's case immediately.

"That didn't do anything at all!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke ignored the outburst.

"You'll need much more heat than that if you want to melt this ice." Haku boasted as the Daichiki heard this.

'Oh, he thinks he's funny, huh? If only I had gotten at least a little understanding of the power before I had to abruptly stop my training then these mirrors would be little more than puddles on the ground.' Kakamei thought to himself as he watched from the outside.

The mirrors started to glow as Haku once again raised his arm, ready to launch another wave of senbon at his opponents. Within seconds Sasuke and Naruto were thrown into the air and cut by a barrage of enbon from all different directions.

Kakamei watched from the outside, only watching the fight, watching the masked boy essentially toying with Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto jumped off of the ground like a spring with a new cut across his face with blood trickling down his face.

"Where is he?! Where are these needle coming from?! Are they clone!?" Naruto asked angrily as Sasuke sat up.

"We've got to find the real one! Which one is it?!" Naruto said loudly as he spun his head around in all different directions, trying to find the real Haku in the mirrors.

"You can look in each mirror as hard as you'd like. You will never learn the secret." Haku stated as Naruto looked up surprised. Sasuke was still sitting on the ground yet he wasn't exactly paying attention to what the kid had to say.

Kakamei was standing on the outside as he looked, trying to concentrate, coordinate.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto yelled, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he held up his signature four finger sign. A huge cloud of smoke appeared and out of the smoke multiple Narutos jumped out, all jumping in different directions. Sasuke saw this and jumped up and started dashing towards one of the mirrors.

Kakamei did the exact same thing.

Both genin ran towards the same mirror. They both raised fist to punch the mirror.

Haku, who was standing in one of the mirrors, watched this and came to his senses quickly. He threw his senbon at all the Narutos, making the clones poof into smoke and sent the real one falling to the ground. In the instant he finished he barraged Sasuke with senbon making the genin fall to the ground before he could hit the mirror, leaving Kakamei to punch the mirror. This lead to nothing but Kakamei hitting the mirror as hard as he could and doing more damage to his hand than the mirror. Kakamei jumped back from the mirror to a safe distance.

Sasuke got back on his feet and walked backwards slowly as he made it back to Naruto, who was still lying on the ground.

"Get up you idiot! We don't have time to be lying down on the ground!" Sasuke angrily stated as Naruto stood back onto his feet. He shook his head and looked at all the mirrors.

"That was a clever move you were tried to pull just then." Haku commented as he then turned his attention to Kakamei.

"I was going to save you for later. I had questions to ask you but it seems that that won't be the case now will it." Haku said as Kakamei looked into the mirrors, into the eye slits in the mask the boy was wearing.

'What happened to that little energy burst that I had earlier? It doesn't seem to be showing up anytime soon. If anything the only thing that could be considered weird is I'm actually starting to get a little warm. Actually, if I think about it, it's mostly my back. It might be pain from when I hit my back on that tree. Whatever. If I need to think about anything it should be on how we're going to fight this guy.' Kakamei thought as he watched the inside. Before he could start thinking of something else to do he heard a voice from behind him.

"Hey, kid, how about you fight instead of standing on the outside like a pansy." Zabuza said as he appeared behind Kakamei and pushed him hard on the back. Kakamei went flying forwards until he fell flat on his chest.

Zabuza stood on the outside looking at his hand.

'What's up with that kid's back? I touched it and now my hand's tingling.' Zabuza thought as he looked at Kakashi.

"Now we can really start the real fight." Zabuza said as he grabbed he hilt of his sword and Kakashi grabbed the portion of his headband that covered his left eye.

"Let's get this over with." Kakashi said as he prepared himself for a fight.


	10. Chapter 9

Kakamei stood up and looked around as he was surrounded by the ice mirrors. He turned his head to the side to look at Zabuza. The assassin's back was turned as he gave most of his attention to Kakashi. He scolded and turned back to the matter at hand.

Sasuke and Naruto, who were back to back, looked at their teammate.

"You're just as lame as Naruto! You had one job to stay on the outside and he simply pushed you in here!" Sasuke yelled as Kakamei also caught an attitude.

"Yeah, yeah. Like you were doing something productive while you were in here with Naruto!" Kakamei retorted. Before Sasuke could say anything Naruto stopped the conversation by yelling.

"WHATEVER!" The fox boy yelled as he ran off towards one of the mirrors. Kakamei face palmed himself as he looked at his teammate running off.

"This kid's going to get us all killed." Kakamei said out loud as Naruto let off his signature jutsu and they all jumped towards a mirror. Within an instant there were senbon needles flying in every direction. Kakamei and Sasuke were caught in the crossfire and were hit with dozens of needles from all directions.

When the barrage finally ended Naruto landed on the ground next to his teammates as Sasuke silently looked up into the air as Kakamei wiped the blood off of himself and looked at Naruto.

"Why did you think that was going to work?" Kakamei said as Naruto just stood up and ignored the comment.

'It was barely there, but I saw it. I could see the trail and follow his moves.' Sasuke thought to himself as he looked out into the mirrors. Naruto just crossed his fingers.

"One more time! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as at least a dozen more of him popped out of thin air. Kakamei went to stop him but the boy had already sprung into action. This time Sasuke jumped into the action and kicked a puddle of water into the air.

"Don't you see that it's useless?" Haku asked as he jumped out of one mirror and started throwing senbon all over the place. What he failed to notice was that as he was flying out the droplets of water that he was passing through. The presence of the water didn't hinder the masked boy's ability to as in a matter of second all three genin were on the ground covered in cuts again.

Sasuke was the first off the ground as he looked at the room of mirrors.

'I can see his speed. That doesn't mean I can match it. The water is being repelled...' Sasuke thought as Naruto and Kakamei rose up off their backs. Kakamei seemed to be getting up rather slowly as when he tried to move his body he noticed it wasn't responding the way he wanted it to. He finally made it to his feet before looking down at his hands.

"Hey, guys. We're going to have to speed this up because if it goes on any longer I'm going to be a frozen statue." Kakamei said as Sasuke and Naruto both looked at their teammate in confusion.

"What are you talking about? It's not even cold. I feel fine." Naruto sad as Kakamei just slowly shrugged.

"It's probably because of the ice we're surrounded by. I've feeling could ever since I've come close to it." Kakamei said as he looked at Haku.

In the background the four ninja could here the clanking of metal. Kakashi and Zabuza had started their fight.

'I'll finish this quickly Zabuza. I know you need me.' Haku thought to himself as Naruto's screech was heard again as he let off his signature jutsu again.

"Come on kid! Stop doing that! These needles are going to paralyze me!" Kakamei said as he decided to start jumping around this time to see if he could dodge some of the needles this time around. Haku readied his weapons and started to leave his mirror, and lastly Sasuke started to weave hand signs the quickest he could.

Haku started to attack the first clone but before he could he noticed a light in the corner of his eye. When he turned he saw a fireball coming straight at him. He swiftly moved out of the way of the jutsu and landed in one of his mirrors only to instantly jump out and start to attack again.

Only a second or two went by before clones started to disappear. Before all of them could be disposed of Sasuke took in a deep breath and let out another Fire Ball Jutsu . This one was slightly more effective than the last one. Haku dodged this ball easily as well with only a miniature damage done to his outfit.

He sliced the final Naruto clone and sent the boy flying down to the ground. Kakamei stopped jumping around. He hadn't dodged all of the needle but he managed to keep the cuts around his legs, arms, and cheeks. They were all breathing heavily as they looked at their enemy. Naruto slowly got up as Kakamei removed one of the senbon out of his arms.

Then senbon was only in his hand for a slight second but he threw it down onto the ground quickly.

"What's wrong with you?!" Naruto yelled as Kakamei started to quickly take them all out of his body. He threw the last one to the ground.

"What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with you guys?! If I had kept those a second longer I would really be frozen right now." Kakamei as his teammates just looked at him with complete confusion.

"Alright! Kakamei's going insane! I have them in my body and I don't feel anything!" Naruto yelled as Kakamei shrugged and looked at the senbon.

'It's him… the boy… give in a few more minutes… the burning feeling in my body is coming back.' Kakamei thought to himself with a slight smile before he went back to a serious face. His moment was broken by Sasuke's voice.

"Naruto, can you do it again?" Sasuke asked. Naruto turned quickly and looked at his rival.

"Huh? Of course! Nothing can stop me! Believe it!" Naruto yelled.

'He doesn't want to show it but he's exhausted. The Shadow Clone Jutsu takes up so much chakra…' Sasuke thought to himself as he looked back the mirrors.

'But thanks to him I figured it out. I know how to break through.' Sasuke boasted in his head as Haku was having the exact opposite thoughts.

'The human eye shouldn't be able to track my movements. It must have been a coincidence.' Haku thought. Just then, the lights started to glow brightly as Sasuke started to weave hand signs.

"You guys get run for it! Get out of here now! Attack from the outside!" Sasuke yelled as his teammates understood.

"Alright!" Naruto yelled as he started to make a run for the exit. Kakamei just stood and watched as he watched the scene.

Naruto was nearing the outside before a strong light came out of nowhere and the kid was knocked down. He stood back up and started running again. Haku jumped out of the mirror and raced towards Naruto but in that instance two movements happened: Sasuke let off his Fireball Jutsu and Kakamei started running forward.

Sasuke's attempt failed as Haku dodged the flames and threw a needle into Sasuke's arm. He then caught Naruto on the brink of making it out of the mirror prison and kicked him back into the circle before jumping back into a mirror.

In the instant that Haku landed back in his mirror Kakamei jumped into the air and kicked the mirror that Haku had jumped into. Kakamei's foot slammed into the mirror with a loud thud as Kakamei landed back on the ground. He took two jumps back and landed in front of Naruto.

The mirror that Kakamei had kicked had cracked, but only slightly. Everyone in the circle was extremely surprised by what the kid had just done. Sasuke and Naruto had their jaws dropped at what Kakamei had just done.

"How did you do that?!" Naruto asked as Kakamei pointed at the mirror.

"I kicked the mirror he was going into with my chakra enhanced foot. It only cracked a little bit but it's something." Kakamei said as his teammates looked dumbfounded by what he had just done.

"How'd you guess which mirror he was going to jump in?" Sasuke asked as Kakamei shook his head and reached out to help Naruto stand up off the ground.

"I just picked the mirror he was going to be closest to. It just so happened that I picked the right one." Kakamei said as he looked down at his leg.

'Yeah, I picked the right one but that isn't too fortunate. I put some damage into the mirror but my leg took a little damage too. That's a small price to pay. I'm starting to get that energy back. The only problem is that back is starting to slightly sting.' Kakamei thought as he turned and looked at the mirror. For some reason the ice was repairing itself like it did when Sasuke blew flames onto it.

"Now we know what mirror he's in." Sasuke said with a slight smirk.

'How did he put damage into this ice. The only people I've ever heard of being able to damage my ice and it not being repaired right away were the…' Haku thought as he gasped with a slight surprise. Before the genin could react Haku threw 15 senbon needles all directed at Kakamei. They all landed.

One landed on each foot, each shin, each thigh, two on his lower abdomen, one in his right chest, one in each hand, each forearm, and each bicep. The boy shrieked in pain.

Kakamei froze, not being able to move a muscle. On the outer tips of the senbon there were pieces of ice that started to quickly grow, reaching Kakamei's body in only a few seconds. The ice started to cover his limbs.

Naruto jumped and tried to knock off some of the ice that had reached his shoulder but instead of knocking the ice off Kakamei yelled in pain.

"Don't hit the ice. It's making it way through the boy's body. The crystals have heightened his pain receptors on his arm. Now the damage the ice receives is sent to the boy, magnified." Haku said as Naruto looked at Kakamei who was just standing there.

Sasuke looked at his teammate and then back at his opponent.

"Naruto let's try it one more time." Sasuke said as Naruto nodded. He started running as Sasuke started to run in the opposite direction. Haku moved quickly.

"No more games! This time you will stay down." Haku said as he raced through his mirrors and threw a needle right into Sasuke's shin. This made the Uchiha stumble. Then he sent another wave of needles that all landed on the boy.

Naruto turned around quickly and yelled his comrade's name only to get a handful of needles shot across his back.

Sasuke got back up to his knees as they all heard of a loud scream coming from the outside.

'That's Sakura's voice. What's going on out there?! Where's Kakashi!?' Sasuke asked himself as Naruto started to stand up.

"I'll bust us out of here." Naruto said confidently as Sasuke looked over in surprise at what he had just said. Kakamei was watching his teammates being on the brink of defeat by the masked boy.

'I can't move! It hurts to even breath! If this keeps going it's going to reach my brain then it's over. Now Sakura decides to start yelling. What am I going to do?!" The boy yelled mentally.


	11. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the wait but the chapter is here. Hope you enjoy. Don't forget to review and if I do get them I'll try to respond to them. Other than that I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

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Kakamei lying on the ground as he watched Naruto attempt to make another run for an exit. It wasn't successful as he only managed to damage himself more. Haku has pinned at least 6 more senbon into the kid's chest. Kakamei looked on, becoming infuriated with what helplessness that he was feeling. He tried to keep a blank face but he was starting to frown with an immense hatred for the situation at hand.

It seemed that Naruto had said something to Sasuke before hunching over, Kakamei guessed that the boy had used up most of his chakra and passed out. The look on his face only deepened.

'Come on! Where's that energy boost that I had before?! When I need it it's not here!' The Daichiki thought to himself as he waited for something important in his body to come out or react. Nothing happened. He hated himself as he watched Sasuke deflect some senbon and Naruto, who Kakamei was sure had just passed out, slowly made his way to his feet. Kakamei felt useless, like he was becoming a burden. He tried to move his arm but to only meet pain. Like the other boy had said, the ice had kicked up his pain receptors, he could feel every single thing that was happening to his body vividly. He could feel the ice that was no prickling up to his chest, the wind blowing rather softly on his leg, which seemed to feel more like stinging than soft blowing. He felt that it was only a matter of time before moving was just completely unthinkable.

'Crap! A few more seconds and I'll be done for! If only I could use Scorch Release right now!' Kakamei thought to himself as he thought for a second before a lightbulb went off in his brain. He had come up with an idea that was so stupid it might end up killing him but hey, he'd rather die trying than to live by giving up.

'Alright, it shouldn't take too long.' He thought as he started to muster up chakra into his hand. He had used the same technique, if it could be called a technique, that he used before and created a fire that was just on the tip of his finger. The flame was no larger than an inch in size. If he wanted this to work on the first try he would need more. He created it to be slightly larger before wincing in pain.

Usually when he would do things like creating a fire it wouldn't harm him at all, but now he could start to feel heat pushing itself onto his hand. It was most likely because of the ice that was now on his neck, slowing his breathing. The flame suffered from this but not too much.

Kakamei enlarged the fire as large as he could, until it was taller than his middle finger but thinner than his pinky. He cursed as he knew it was the best he could do. He then used his brain, which took more effort to do than the fire for some odd reason, and created a wind current that was swirling on the tip of his finger as well. The winds from the current made his finger feel as if it were being cut hundreds of time in rapid succession.

The frown on his face had turned into a stare that was a mix of anger, pain, and anxiety. He prepared himself as he brought his two fingers together. They were only about 10 centimeters apart but it was the most painful 10 centimeters of his life. Brought the wind and fire together until they were nearly touching.

"Here goes nothing." He said aloud this time as he closed his eye, brought the flame and wind together, and braced for impact. He waited for an instant but nothing seemed to happen. Time seemed to move in slow motion for him. It was as if his fingers were still coming together to put the blast together when he opened his eyes. He managed to get a quick glimpse of everything that was going on around him. Naruto was laid on the ground and seemed to be out of the fight this time. Sasuke was standing, albeit he was breathing very hard with senbon sticking all out of him. When Kakamei looked at him with a deeper gaze he could seem something changed with Sasuke. His eyes had turned red and there were tomoe on them now. He didn't know what was going on but before he could piece it all together time seemed to gain speed again and the elements clashed together. The blast wasn't anything compared to what happened earlier when he had tried this but it was something that was strong enough to send him flying of the ground and slamming onto on of the mirrors.

The two combatants turned around to see what had happened. Kakamei hit the ice platform with his back hard enough to crash through it. He landed on the ground outside of the mirror prison. He hand managed to knock off almost all of the needles. There was still a single senbon that managed to keep itself lodged in his shin.

Even though he was happy about his accomplishments. Not only had he successfully created the explosion but he had managed to destroy one of the infamous mirrors. But it had come with price. The senbon had been knocked out because of him slamming against the mirror. This made his pain receptors scream from both the explosion and the collision onto the mirror. Kakamei laid on the ground in front of Kakashi and Zabuza as his eyes had rolled into the back of his head and he had passed out. The assassin looked down at the boy, amazed that he was able to do something so crazy. Nobody had ever managed to do something like that before.

"Kakamei! Are you okay?!" Kakashi asked loudly as the boy just laid there quiet. Zabuza looked at Kakashi before looking back down at the kid. The gash on Kakashi's chest continued to bleed. Zabuza took this chance to kick Kakashi right in his wound and sent him flying into the bridge builder's arms. He caught him but by the time Kakashi had gained his vision and ability to stand up Zabuza was already standing over Kakamei's body. He reached to grab him but when he touched the kid's body he retracted his hand quickly. He looked at his fingertips to find them burned. Zabuza looked down at the boy who was just silently laying there.

'What's wrong with this kid?! He's burning up! I can't even touch him!' He thought as he looked down at Kakamei's body. Just then the kid's eyes rolled back into the front and he took a deep gasp for air. Zabuza backed up and held his hand. Kakamei looked down at his shin and managed to move, although slowly, and grabbed the senbon out of his shin and threw it away. He attempted to move his body but the effects of the pain increasing ice was still in his bones. He couldn't move his body fluently except for the ability to move his arms down his legs.

'Man! That was great but now I can't even see what's happening with Naruto and Sasuke. Worst of all I'm sitting under Zabuza's nose.' Kakamei thought to himself as he looked around, for something he could possibly use to get out of this situation.

'I don't have any physical strength to move. I do have my chakra. That means I have Fire Release and Wind Release. Those aren't going to do me much good since I can't make them a reasonable size for damage. Even then I'd have to move, and pretty quickly, to get a hit on one of these guys. The last option would be to use another explosion but using one of those I'm not sure I'd be able to withstand another one. I guess the best move right now would be to use my chakra to heal myself. Even then I can't because my chakra can only heal bones.' He thought to himself as he looked around. Zabuza he regained his composure and stood him with his sword ready to chop Kakamei in two. As he went to slam his sword Kakashi came out of nowhere and stopped it with a kunai. Kakashi and Zabuza struggled for a second before Zabuza jumped back and Kakashi lowered his kunai.

"You've done well. You found a way to destroy one of the mirrors. That will probably help Naruto and Sasuke a lot. For now just lay there and rest. We'll take care of everything else." Kakashi reassured his student as Kakamei sat silently, unable to speak. He understood and thought that with the opening Naruto and Sasuke would come up with some way to come out of the trap without dying. The hole he had created in the mirror room was directly in front of his body.

'The least I can do is watch.' Kakamei concludes as he tried his hardest to turn his body to the left and look at it. It took what felt like an eternity to him to finally managed to turn his body completely and look at the battle that was going on. Naruto was standing in a single spot, frozen as Sasuke bolted for him. The senbon That has aimed for Naruto impaled the Uchiha. Blood ran down his lip as he said something to Naruto who said something back before he fell to the ground. Kakamei looked at the scene as he watched Sasuke fall to the ground and landed on his side. Kakamei wanted to jump up and run to him but his body wouldn't move.

For some reason he didn't understand he felt as if he needed to get up and run to his comrade that had fallen. He closed his eyes as memories of something like this happening before… something distant yet… so close. He let a single tear come out of his eye before he blacked out.

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 **Again, thanks for reading my story and I hope you enjoy.**


	12. Chapter 11

Passed out on the ground, the Daichiki just lied in silence. His body didn't pve yet he was still cognisant of what he was thinking about. Kakamei was able to talk to himself through his thoughts but was unable to get a grasp on what was happening on the battlefield. For some reason he could see his body floating into a black emptiness.

'What am I doing right now? Why can I see my own body? Did I die or something?' he asked himself as he simply watched his body float there. His clothes had been torn because of the battle but his body seemed unharmed. He had no scratches or bruises on his body. The only thing that he could see on his body was a small white object that was on his fingertips. They weren't anything crazy but it was noticeable compared to the size of his fingers. He watched as the originally small pieces started to grow onto his hands, and then to his arms, and then to his chest. It continued to spread around his body until it reached its head, where it suddenly stopped growing.

'Why is it stopping at only my head? It looks like the same ice that Haku had dropped on me earlier, except this time the ice looks thinner and easier to break. I should be able to break through that ice easily. But my eyes are closed. I wonder why.' Kakamei thought to himself, which was heard throughout the realm of darkness. It was only for a second before he was responded with some type of voice in his head.

"It's okay. That ice can't hurt you as you are now… Kakamei Daichiki." It said. The voice rang through his head, giving him a huge headache. Kakamei's body moved, which didn't break the ice, and gripped his head.

"WHO ARE YOU?! WHY ARE YOU ABLE TO TALK IN MY HEAD?!" Kakamei yelled throughout his mind. He yelled. The woman like voice simply chuckled lightly.

"No need to worry about that just yet. Right now you need to be concerned about your own body. If you haven't noticed it yet your entire body is covered in ice. The only part that hasn't been covered is your head. Isn't that a little concerning for you?" She asked. This time the voice wasn't coming from all directions but only from somewhere directly in front of the Daichiki. Kakamei tried to find the source of the voice, to no avail.

"Tell me what's going on!" Kakamei yelled into the distance. The woman sighed. Then there was a strong wind that seemed to severely rattle his brain. Kakamei yelled throughout his brain, trying to find out the reason for this pain. This pain only went on for a few seconds but Kakamei felt as if minutes had passed since it started. His breath of his brain became super heavy and slow. The only thing that had come of this was that the voice had now manifested into a body that Kakamei could identify with.

It turned out to be a very small girl. She was only about 3 or 4 years old but her voice seemed to be the age of a woman who was in her mid to late twenties. She had short, white hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her clothes were only that of a silk robe that had flowers that decorated it. Kakamei tried to concentrate on what the girl looked like but he was having trouble from the huge migraine that he was suffering from.

"Who are you?!" He struggled to say. He yelled throughout his own head as he tried to get some type of control over himself. The girl smiled at him with a smile and shook her head.

"You couldn't stop this aching pain in your head if you wanted to. There are things that you simply can't control in this world and this is one of them. You're not strong enough." She said more quietly than the time before. Kakamei's body that had been covered in ice caved over and was sitting in the fetal position trying to cover his head. Kakamei yelled once more before the little girl sighed and snapped her finger. Kakamei's yelling stopped as the ringing stopped in his head. His body stayed in that same position before standing up straight, now with burning marks on the side of his head, near his ears.

But now, instead of being a consciousness that could watch his body he was now inside the body. A sensation that he had never felt before overwhelmed his body, being cold. Strained to break the ice to no avail. There was nothing that he could do but sit there and listen to the little girl talk about whatever she had to say.

"What do you want? Who are you?!" Kakamei asked. The girl looked at him and took a seat on nothing but the darkness.

"The air is so much smoother when you're not screaming your head off for no apparent reason." She said suavely. Kakamei growled and shook his head.

"Let me out of this thing. I've never been this cold in my life. And explain to me who you are. I don't ever remember seeing you in my life." Kakamei ordered the girl. Her face scrunched into a frown before shaking her head.

"You have a lot of demands for someone who is having the trouble right now. Your body is about to fall into a hibernation since it's not used to being so cold. You should probably do something before you die." She said calmly. Kakamei looked down at his body and noticed that he could not feel anything from the neck down. Even this part was becoming dangerous because the ice that had stopped moving before had started to slowly encroach onto his neck.

"You have to be kidding me! How do I get rid of this?!" He yelled. The girl winced at the sound of his voice yelling before, seemingly instantly, covered his mouth with her hand.

"You talk too much." She said silently. Kakamei's eyes lowered and looked at her in question.

'She moved instantaneously. There's no way a girl this young should be able to move that fast.' He thought, which surprisingly the girl was able to hear.

"I can hear you even when you think. It'll be a good technique to have when you're mouth stops being able to move. But, there are kids who can move that fast, especially when someone is talking to much," She said quietly as she removed her hand, "now that you can calm down a little bit you can use this chance to use your kekkei genkai that you have no control over. It'll be great practice." Kakamei looked at her with something of a confused and worried look.

"How do you know about my kekkei genkai? You haven't answered any of my questions but you seem to know a lot about me. Explain yourself." Kakamei tried before having groaning from the ice that was gaining more and more real-estate on his neck. The girl sighed once again and put her hands on his chest. The warmth of her hands felt almost euphoric when she touched him but it wasn't good enough to melt any of the ice.

"Once again, you shouldn't be asking all of those questions. I'll say it once again. You must use your Kekkei Genkai to get out of this before your body goes into a state of hibernation. It's fairly terrifying when you think about it. But, to ease you for now just know that I'll be here for you whenever you want to talk so you can rest assured that your questions will be answered. Now, use that amazing power that you have in your blood and set yourself free." She said as the image of her body withered away. Kakamei watched as the body of the little girl washed away into the darkness.

"YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME! I HAVE TO USE MY KEKKEI GENKAI WHEN I CAN'T EVEN USE IT WHEN I TRY WHILE MY LIFE'S NOT IN DANGER!" He yelled out into the distance but he was met with silence. He looked down at his body the best he could because his head had finally become forced still. Breathing had become hard to do but for some reason this wasn't really a problem for him because he didn't need to in the void of his mind but he did start to hyperventilate, which was fairly irrational.

"COME ON! AT LEAST GIVE ME A HINT! HOW DO I GET TO USE MY POWER?! I NEED HELP!?" He tried once again. Kakamei sat to himself with silence for a few more seconds before the ice gained another inch on his neck. It ended up getting past his neck and encroached onto his chin. Kakamei sat there trying to think of a way to get out of this before he started breathing heavily, trying to concentrate on using his power. Only a few seconds passed by before Kakamei heard the little girl's voice once again. This time his head wasn't banging the way before. This time it was actually smoothing to his head. The unclearness that had come from him trying to figure out a way from practically nothing.

"You're overthinking this. It's in your blood. It is your birthright to use it. It should come second nature to you. Don't think on it too much but there are things on your mind that aren't helping you. Clear your mind completely and let your instincts take over. Let the energy spread through you freely." The woman's voice said through the darkness. Kakamei listened in on what was being said. He wanted to respond with some other type of question before leaving the thought behind and taking the advice.

He was able to clear his mind from any and everything. The silence in the darkness was helpful as he was able to keep concentrating on nothing but summoning his birthright. After a few seconds of thinking of nothing he was finally able to feel his body heating back up.

Slowly but surely he could feel the ice melting from his body, starting at his throat and trickling down his body. The water from the ice melted into vapor and surrounded Kakamei's body. His closed eyes were opened slightly to see what completely surprised him. His face went from a straight and relaxed face to that of completely surprised face decorated with a grin. His skin was glowing red from the heat it was giving off. The smile on his face was that of a kid in a candy shop. The boy laughed and jumped off of the solid ground that was apparently floating throughout the dark abyss of space. Kakamei smiled and looked upward and nodded.

"Thank you! This will make it much much easier for me to do it while I'm out in the real world fighting. I'll be able to use my kekkei genkai for much more than training. I really appreciate on allowing me to get this well needed when I wake up… speaking of…" Kakamei said to himself as he looked around the darkness of the room and waited for some type of door to pop open.

"Do you know where I'm supposed to go in?" He asked out into the silence. This time the woman didn't have any type of answer. The voice hadn't talked anymore but the Daichiki could feel the eyes watching over him, waiting for him to make a mistake. Kakamei kept looking for a few more seconds before a portal popped up where he could see a blinding light. He reached out to the light before the voice once again spoke up.

"Are you sure that you want to go out of this place? If you leave now you won't be able to come back any time soon." The voice questioned. Kakamei turned and scanned the room one more time and shook his head.

"Nahhhh. I'll be back eventually so there's no need to worry. If I have any problems I'll find a way to get back to you." Kakamei said before stepping through the portable. The woman then formed again into the little girl with a frown on her face and shook her head.

"Child, if you were smart you would've made the simple decision harder than it actually had to be. You shouldn't want to come back here you Daichiki.

Kakamei's eyes shot open and he tried to sit up but before he could he stopped rushing up and winced from the pain. He looked down to himself now that he was wrapped in bandages on his head, stomach, and forehead. Everyone in the room was silent as they watched the boy who had been sleep finally opened his eyes. Sakura was the first person to come up to him and start talking.

"What is this?" Kakamei asked the girl who was standing in front of him.


	13. Chapter 12

Kakamei was looking into some type of bright light before he blinked a few times. In only a few seconds there was a girl standing, blocking the light. Her pink hair flowed past her face as she looked down at him. Kakamei's eyes took another few seconds to focus before he was able to see the girl, Sakura, in her full glory. She looked down at him in worry signaling everyone else in the room, but Kakamei wasn't able to process this completely because of his barely conscious mind wasn't able to get a grasp.

Instead of thinking to himself the things that he was "thinking" he was actually mumbling out loud for everyone to hear. The group of people that amassed around him were only four people. Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and Inari. They all found a place to stand around him with looks of nervousness on their face, except Kakashi, who was only able to show his single eye with a blank face. Kakamei looked at his friends with his eyes squinted.

"Man, all these people in the light. Looks like I'm dying." He said as he started to look around at the people around him. He chuckled to himself before groaning.

"You shouldn't move around. Your body isn't fully healed." Sakura said quickly to the boy. Kakamei looked at the girl and sighed.

"I must be dying. Sakura actually looks cute in this light now. If I'm dying it would be somewhat of a waste to not be able to see all of my friends again. Oh well." He uttered one last time before turning his head to the side and letting out a breath.

Before he was able to fully pass out once again he was punched in the chest. His eyes finally bolted open and he was able to see the entire group. Sakura was looking down on him with her left wrist in her right hand and a blush on her face.

"YOU'RE NOT DYING!" She yelled, breathing heavily. Kakamei grabbed onto his chest and wheezed from the hit. The other people in the group all watched, laughing nervously and shaking their heads. Sakura turned and walked away. Kakamei sat up and wincedat the movement.

"Take it slow." Kakashi said before chuckling weakly.

"Event though Sakura is already hitting you like you're in good shape you're not. You need a few more days to heal, without using that jutsu you used before." Kakashi said. Naruto looked at his sensei, confused about why the teacher wouldn't allow his students to use something so powerful.

"Sensei! But why not?! That would be way easier and faster for us if he used that jutsu!" Naruto yelled. Kakamei groaned at the loud voice of his teammate but wondered the same.

"Stop yelling," Kakashi ordered as he sighed and looked at Kakamei, "Besides, you can't use a jutsu like that more than a few times before the body starts to break down." Kakashi said as he pointed to a glass pot that was a few feet away from him with a flower growing in it. Kakamei looked at it, confused about what he was talking about.

"If I were to break that vase and tried to put it back together by melting it eventually, even with it being gradual and unnoticable at first, there would be material that would be lost or completely morphed together." Kakashi explained. Kakamei looked down at his ribs and thought for a second.

'Now that he says it I have been feeling a slightly stiff since I did it the first time but it's nothing crazy.' Kakamei actually thought to himself. He nodded and laid back down and started to talk.

"What happened while I was out? The last thing I saw before I passed out was Sasuke…" Kakamei decided not to finish the sentence. Naruto looked at him with a smile and pointed towards the door.

"Don't worry about him! He wouldn't die to something like that! He's in another room, sleeping just like you. Believe it!" He yelled with happiness. Kakamei nodded and closed his eyes.

"That's comforting I guess. With that I'll be taking a nap. Getting the rest I need so we can leave as soon as possible." Kakamei said as he closed his eyes and started to think to myself.

'Man, I have a huge headache and all this screaming isn't helping me at all. I wonder why Sakura punched me. Maybe she wanted to wake me up faster. That surely woke me up but it did the opposite effect that it had on my body. I take back that cute thing that I said earlier. She's a real hard hitter.' He said as he dozed off and went back to sleep.

 _ **A FEW DAYS LATER**_

Only a few days passed before the entire team was back on their way to the village. When Team Seven was leaving the village there was a huge group of villagers who were waiting to see them off. But, as they were leaving Kakamei was walking off and trying to think of a way to use his new power that he had finally "unlocked".

That day passed by quickly and the days afterward managed to pass by quickly too. After a few days of nearly nonstop travel through the woods to make it back to their home. As they walked into the village and the Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja started to yell and scream throughout the village. Sakura and Sasuke were walking behind Kakamei and Naruto, who were walking only a few feet away. Kakamei didn't indulge in Naruto's yelling but he did look at him smile and watch his friend jump up and down, excited about what was happening. When the entire group walked into the village all walked in the kids circled around Kakashi and waited for him to say something, which he found quite annoying.

"Kakashi-sensei! What are we going to do now!?" Naruto yelled. Kakashi sighed and lowered his showing eye.

"Well, we're going to take a little break. I have to go report this mission to the Hokage. While I'm gone you all should go and do something productive." Kakashi said. Naruto jumped forward and started to scream something about an extreme mission that he wanted to go on but Kakashi's body immediately turned to smoke and vanished into the air. When Naruto landed on his feet, though wobbly, and turned to his teammates.

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei left us already! What should we do!?" He asked as his other teammates turned and started to walk away. He started to yell again but the other kids continued to walk.

"Come on guys! We have to start coming together as a team!" He yelled. The others continued to walk away but Kakamei stopped and turned his head.

"Come on Naruto. We just got back from this crazy mission and the first thing you want to do is go on another one. How about taking a week long break or something like that before we start taking deadly missions again." Kakamei said. Naruto looked at him and grumbled to himself but Kakamei wasn't interested in hearing what was being said and walked away. Eventually Naruto gave up on the situation and went home, waiting for the next time their teacher would lazily call together another meeting for a mission.

Only a few days of silence in their lives went by before they were once again called by Kakashi and pushed into the limelight of the missions of the village.

The missions were only boring, walking dogs, pulling weeds, and finding even more cats were all on the list of things that people just needed to be done around the village. After a few missions, which Naruto had finished by doing the most outlandish, over exuberant things. Kakamei watched from a distance and shook his head with his teammates as he watched in embarrassment.

Once, when they were coming from another kiddie mission that Naruto had managed to get himself destroyed from Sasuke and Sakura each had one of Naruto's arms around their shoulders as Kakamei and Kakashi walked in the background and watched as the three walked. They were relatively quiet, with the exception of Naruto's complaining, that was broken by Sakura started to talk.

"Naruto, this happens almost every time! You always have to go and over do it." She nagged, but Naruto ignored it. The thing he couldn't ignore was Sasuke's comment afterwards.

"You really are just one big problem." Sasuke said confidently as he walked along. Naruto grunted as stood up by himself, which gave Sasuke the freedom to continue walking by himself.

"Sasukeeee!" Naruto yelled after the raven haired boy but before he could land even a single punch the girl reached her hand out and stopped Naruto.

"If you keep making a big fuss like this then I'll end you myself." Sakura said angrily. Kakashi sighed at the arguing that was happening with his group but Kakamei chuckled and walked forward.

"Come on guys. We don't have to get too worked up over nothing." Kakamei said with his hands up. Before he could make any real progress Naruto turned to him and then started to talk to.

"Don't think you're exempt either Kakamei! I'll beat you in a fight someday too!" Naruto said loudly before turning his head back to Sasuke.

"I guess we're not making any headway on the teamwork thing then huh?" Kakashi asked. Naruto pointed at the Sasuke who was still walking away and started to yell.

"That's right! Our teamwork is all messed up! And it's all because of you Sasuke! You think you're better than everyone!" He yelled to the Uchiha, who simply kept walking.

"Not everyone. Just you." He said calmly, and stopped.

"Unless you have some way to back it up." Sasuke said as he death glared Naruto, who grunted and looked at his rival. After a few seconds Sasuke became evidently irritated at what was happening. Kakamei stepped in and tried to stop the tension.

"The mission's over and you two are just arguing over nothing now. Let's just go home." Kakamei said forcefully. The two boys then turned their attention to Kakamei . Kakashi was the next to but in on the conversation.

"As much as I'd love to get in on this nice little conversation I have to go report on this mission once again to the Hokage." Kakashi stated. The three boys who were standing around and looking at each other broke their gazes and started to move around. Sasuke turned his back and walked away.

"If that's the case then I'm leaving too." Sasuke said. Before long he turned his head and looked at Kakamei.

"And the invitation to fight extends to you too." He said before walking away, with his number one fan girl ran after him, wanting to find a chance to get a hold of her future, hopeful lover. She chased after him but he quickly shot her down. This didn't deter her as Naruto then started his pursuit with her. At this sight Kakashi left and what remained were the three students left. Kakamei looked at them for a few seconds before walking away.

As he was walking through the village and headed to his "family home", which was just a building that was given to him when he was inducted into the village to show other people that they would be welcomed into the village. He watched the people who were now in the village and it looked as if the people around were foreigners who were visiting the village from all over the world. This happened usually, when there would be a flood of tourism, and when it happened Kakamei tried his hardest to just stay out of the way.

'I hate when this happens. I don't plan on taking my leave out of the house too much while they're here. Dammit.'He thought to himself as he walked through and made it to his home.

The house that he lived in now was very similar to any of the other houses in the village. It was a place that could hold around 10 to 15 people, his home was smaller than the homes of the families such as the Hyuga, who had multiple branches and families lived there so the need for multiple homes and even an entire community to them. Kakamei would always think to himself that he was very grateful that he hadn't gotten something as large as that for himself. The loneliness would probably be super overwhelming when he was there by himself.

The boy walked into his house and showed that it was less of a home and more of an apartment room. It was only filled with a few rooms, somewhere to sleep, cook, and bathe. When he walked into the house he threw his bag to the floor and walked into his bedroom. Even though he had planned on working on his powers more during the day he, for some reason, he couldn't manage to keep his eyes open anymore. His body slumped onto the bed and then fell asleep.

 _ **Hours Later**_

The time during the day had passed much faster than he expected. The nap that he took that he had taken was only supposed to be around an hour and a half at maximum but three hours had passed and h finally woke up to the sun setting and the streets of the village was calming down. Kakamei opened his eyes up to his darkened room and walked out, stretching and groaning throughout the doorway.

"Mannnnnnn, I wasn't expecting to sleep this long but I can't be too upset. Too much sleep doesn't exist. But it should do me well to train in the dark. I'll make some use of this silence. Maybe I'll see something important or interesting during this little trip." Kakamei said as he walked out of the house.

Walking down the streets he observed the different types of people who were walking down the streets and noticed the actual appearance of the people who were walking down the streets. They looked too familiar for his comfort. He continued to watch as the people who were seemingly popping out the most to him were dressed in attire that he was much too accustomed too. They were from the Village Hidden in the Sand.

"Why are the people from _**that**_ village are here? I thought that they didn't have a good relationship but the people around here seem to be getting along just fine. If anything they look like they're having fun." Kakamei thought aloud. He thought that he was talking to himself but as he was walking there was a voice that he was unfamiliar with came out of nowhere and started to speak quietly.

"So, you're one of the promising genins from Kakashi's squad ad you have no idea as to what is going on in the village? It's pathetic on Kakashi if you were to think about it." The voice said loudly. Kakamei wanted to turn his head to see what this person had to say but before he could the person appeared in front of him, which caught the Daichiki off guard but he tried to keep his surprise to himself. When he was looking at the boy it was someone that he had recognized from simply looking at him. It was Neji Hyuga.

Kakamei had recognized him because of the times when he was just arriving into the village. When he arrived into the village and was introduced to the head families of the village. This was an effect of the Hokage wanting to instate the Daichiki as one of the prominent groups into the village.

When he was making his rounds throughout the village there was someone that looked out of place to him and one of the people who did stick out was the guard of the young heir to the Hyuga main branch of the family, Hinata. Even though the kid was supposed to be completely dedicated to the family but he seemed like he wasn't for the position. More of something like a nail sticking out. He seemed to reach out to Kakamei but he never stepped out to him.

Now was different. Over the years there was development of Kakamei, he no longer feared interaction with people as he did now. He was prepared for this interaction, something that he had been waiting on.

"Who are you?" Kakamei asked. The boy away from him groaned and shook his head.

"There's no need for someone like you to know my name. I came because I wanted to know if you were going to be someone like your teammate but you're nothing special." He said as he turned to walk away. Kakamei smiled and then walked forward to grb the boy's shoulder. Before he could even reach his hand out and touch the kid the boy disappeared and reappeared behind him with a kunai to his neck. Kakamei stopped moving and took in a deep breath.

"Don't touch me. I'm not interested in you. My name is Neji Hyuga. I already know yours so that is the end of that." The boy now named Neji said as he swung the kunai and threw it back into his pouch and walked away. After Neji walked away from him and turned the corner Kakamei sighed out and then started to breath hard.

'Wow, that had to be something of a joke. Even though I'm able to fight people on the same level as him I froze. I could've done something but I couldn't move. What was that?!' Kakamei thought to himself in a rushed thinking. He stood there for a few minutes, thinking about the kid who he had just met before continuing to walk through the village, thinking about the kid, trying to figure out what had really stopped him from fighting the new introduced Neji. Kakamei walked and walked before making it to his training ground. He trained for a few hours before going back home and going to sleep once again.


	14. Chapter 13

After his involvement with the Hyuga a few days of silence passed before Kakamei was called upon by his sensei to come to the bridge along with the rest of his team. When he made it there he had noticed that he was actually late compared to everyone else but the man who had a reputation of being late to team meetings that he himself scheduled.

As the group of people were standing around they started to talk, they meaning Naruto and Sakura were talking while Kakamei and Sasuke were standing in the background and thinking to themselves. Whatever Sasuke was thinking was a mystery to everyone all of the time but Kakamei's thoughts were obviously filled with thinking about the boy that he had met the other night that had simply overwhelmed him. This had been on his mind for days but he couldn't put his hands on it. A kid who he had never heard of but only seen once a few years ago had defeated him without much trouble. When thinking about it he would somehow let go of his chakra and let off some dangerous energy that would scare the civilians who were around him.

He was thinking about the kid for a few minutes and was starting to get upset by the way it happened and started to let off energy but before he could really get into the dangerous mode that he was getting into Kakashi popped out of nowhere, which caught his attention enough to let go of it for a while.

"KAKASHI-SENESEI! YOU'RE LATE AGAIN!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at their teacher. Kakashi was squatting on one of the posts of the bridge. He innocently waved his hand and said hello. Kakamei unusually smiled at the loudness of his group and then walked forward as Kakashi jumped down from the post and stood in front of them.

"I suggested all of your names for the upcoming Chunin exams." Kakashi said as he held out four passes into the Chunin exam. The group looked at him blankly as Sakura repeated him.

"Application forms?" She repeated back to him.

"You're repeating me Sakura. This is up to all of you. If you don't want to go then you can simply wait until next year." Kakashi said as his loudest student ran up to him and then started to hug all over him. Kakashi struggled and pulled the kid off of him before starting to talk again.

"Look, if you're feeling up to it then go to room 301 in the academy 5 days from now. That's it." Kakashi said as he started to walk away. Naruto mumbled "Chunin Exams" to himself and walked away with the rest of the team as Kakamei stayed behind. When Kakashi turned to leave in the other direction Kakamei rushed to stop him.

"Sensei! Wait!" Kakamei yelled out. Kakashi turned and looked at his student with a curious look.

"What is it Kakamei? You rarely yell like that." Kakashi asked. Kakamei rolled his eyes and then started to talk.

"Yesterday I was walking through the village I met someone intriguing who said that was going on about us being in the Chunin Exams and I wanted to know if you knew anything about him." Kakashi looked at him with a curious look before nodding.

"I know of the people who were recommended to be in the Chunin Exams from the Leaf. Who do you want to know about?" Kakamei nodded.

"His name is Neji Hyuga." Kakamei responded. Kakashi looked at him with a look of confusion and intrigue as to what his relationship was with Neji and how they had come to know of Neji.

"Well, he's part of the Hyuga Clan, one of the founding clans and the most prominent in the village. They are the ones who take on some of the hardest missions that come through the Leaf. Neji is one of the highest prospects from that clan in a long time. How do you know of him?" Kakashi asked. Kakamei shook his head.

"I just so happened to meet him when I was walking around yesterday. I wanted to know more about him." Kakamei said. Kakashi thought to himself for a few seconds before, once again speaking in his bland and blank voice.

"Well, if that wasn't enough information then you can go meet with the Hokage, Lord Third and he can tell you as much as you need to know." Kakashi said. Kakamei nodded and then started to walk away.

"It's fine. That's enough for now. Thanks Kakashi-sensei." Kakamei said as he walked away, making his way to his other teammates. Kakashi walked away from the scene, thinking about the conversation.

When he was walking back to his group he could see them in the distance. Something stood out to him was Sakura, who had stopped walking and was just watching as Naruto and Sasuke had continued to walk. Kakamei noticed this and walked behind her and but his hand on her back. She slightly jumped because of the hand on her back but Kakameis started to talk.

"Why'd you stop walking? If you stop for too long it won't be long before they're too far ahead of you." Kakamei said. Sakura turned her head and looked up at her taller teammate, who was smiling at her and then walked past her.

"Keep up. It would be a real shame if you are behind us and then you get lost. But, I guess that won't happen will it?" Kakamei asked. Sakura thought to herself at what he said before smiling and walking forward.

"I guess not." She said as she walked forward to catch up to the rest of them. Kakamei was walking on the outside of the four, next to Naruto when he started to think of the group as a whole.

'The Chunin Exams are said to be the toughest of tests when it comes to becoming a true ninja. If that's really the case then I'm worried for Sakura. If she goes into it with a downed attitude then it could turn out sour for us if we don't watch our backs.' Kakamei thought as they made it back into the village and separated into their different paths.

Two days had passed since Kakashi had given them the passes to the Chunin Exams. Kakamei was doing the normal thing for people who were readying themselves for the exams, training.

Even though there were five days Kakamei thought and thought about what he should train on as he traced back and forth between his small room and tried to come up with things he should train in the short amount of time that he had.

"If I train with my Kekkei Genkai then I might be able to get a grasp on it but it's not super lightly. I can't master it completely. What should I do? If I can get chakra control down then I'll be able to get a grasp on it much faster." Kakamei thought aloud.

"I think I could do that. With better chakra control and some more control on the amount of times I try to use it then I think I could get out a decent amount of jutsu out before I tire myself out." He continued to think more and more before he finished thinking aloud before finishing and coming on the conclusion of chakra training by using trees. Kakamei was preparing to go out into the forest to train but before he could there was a knock on the door. When he opened the door there was someone standing in front of him. From the headband Kakamei couldn't remember what village he was from. Kakamei looked at him for a second but closed the door before a word could be given off.

"Weirdo." Kakamei said as he went back to getting ready. Before he could get anything done the ninja broke through the door and then grabbed Kakamei from his home and drug him out into the middle of the woods.

The time that passed between making it to the woods from his home seemed to be almost instantaneously. He dropped Kakamei to the ground and then jumped onto the top of one of the trees and then waited for Kakamei to stand up, which took about ten seconds before Kakamei stood up and looked at him with a sigh.

"What do you do you want?" Kakamei asked. The ninja chuckled and then started to talk.

"I brought you out to the woods so I could destroy you before the fighting and tests of the Chunin Exams. Give up now before it's too late." The ninja said aloud. Kakamei smirked and then pointed into the direction of the village that was supposedly far back into the distance.

"Look, as much as I enjoy conversations with people I don't know and try to kidnap me I have to get back to my house. Please undo the genjutsu so I don't trip up the stairs when I'm walking back into my house." Kakamei said silently as the ninja stopped his chuckling and grunted.

"When did you figure out that it was a genjutsu!?" He asked. Kakamei shook his head.

"I don't like explaining the way I did every little thing but I'll help you now because if you plan on going through with the Chunin Exams then you should know. If you're going to pull a jutsu that changes the perception of the person then you should make it more believable when trying to use a geographical change on those who are more familiar to the landscape than you." Kakamei said as he turned and started to turn away.

The ninja became angry and started to sprout out angrily at the kid.

"This may have been easy for you now but be prepared! During the Chunin Exams it won't be so simple!" The ninja said as the woods dissipated and then he jumped off into the sky. Kakamei sighed and turned back to his home and then went on about his day and starting to try different chakra training ways.

The other three days passed and the group of genin made their way up into the academy and prepared themselves for what was happening. Kakamei and Naruto had walked to the academy together because they would pass each other on the way to the academy. There wasn't much speaking on either side of the people because Kakakmei wasn't really a talking person.

When they made it up the stairs, everyone in the group noticed the genjutsu that was thick around the village. Kakamei noticed this and decided to ignore it completely but hi teammates had a completely different type of thinking, especially his surprisingly flamboyant teammate, Sasuke.

When they made it up the stairs onto the second floor they saw the abuse that was being given onto a group of people who were seemingly older than them. When the gang walked up to the group that were being bullied Kakamei saw the people who were being punched on. He stopped in his steps for a second, seeing that Neji was standing behind the kid in the jumpsuit. Kakamei looked at him with a cautious and wary look. Instead of the others who thought it would be cool to stop and confront them Kakamei continued to walk before he stopped and waited on his friends. While he waited on them Kakamei continued to look at Neji, who looked at him with a smirk. Kakamei grunted and then walked away.

While they were in the middle of boasting in front of the group of seeming fodder Kakamei called out to them, cutting them off quick.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, come on. If we linger around her for too long then we'll be late. Besides, if they're not smart enough to get past this type of test against people like them then they don't deserve to be a part of something like the Chunin Exams." Kakamei said. The attention from the people around them were turned to him. Kakamei looked around at the people who were looking around before turning his head back to his squad, who nodded and then started walking towards him.

"Hey, you. What's your name?" Neji asked as Sasuke turned around. Sasuke started talking to him when Kakamei looked at Naruto seemed to be angry that he wasn't the one being asked. Kakamei smiled then patted Naruto on the back.

"Keep a calm head. If you get too angry then you could get angry and destroy the place. We all know you're the strongest person in the building." Kakamei said jokingly. Naruto smiled and then put his hands on his hips and then started to walk away.

"That's right!" He said as he walked away. The others followed behind soon.

When they moved up to the higher floor the others started to follow them but three that waited behind, the squad that had been putting up a farce for the others who were tricking the genin.

"They seem to be more than the others who arrived here." The boy in the green jumpsuit said as he sat up and looked ahead. Neji chuckled and then shook his head.

"Four people in a squad? It seems like they have some type of deficiency that they needed to break the rules to solve." Neji said as The only girl at the scene smirked.

"Weak or not two of them are really cute." She said jokingly. Neji shook his head.

"Whatever. Let's go. Lee, Tenten." Neji sad to his fellow teammates.

While they were walking away from the older kids that they had just met Team 7 walked into a huge room that was filled with nothing, simply empty. When they made it to the room Kakamei started thinking to himself before turning around from the group, which only called the attention of Sakura.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked, which made the rest of the tem stop and look at him.

"I just want to check something out before we start the exams." Kakamei said. Naruto frowned and then walked up.

"You're kidding! I hope you're not trying any funny business and running away! The exams are about to start! We'll be late." Naruto yelled in opposition in what was happening but Kakamei ignored him with a smile and then started to walk away.

"Thank you. It'll only take a minute and then I'll be there." Kakamei said as he ran off into the distance. As he ran back into the hallway he ran past one of the kids who had been fighting against the bullies in the hallway. Kakamei decided not to say anything to him and continued to walk through.

Eventually he made it to the place that he was expecting. Not only was Neji standing in front of him but there was also his female teammate standing on his side. Kakamei simply stood on the opposite side of the room and started to talk.

"Hello Neji Hyuga." Kakamei said coldly, the prodigy across from him smiled and then nodded.

"I see your team has something a little more promising than you." Neji said with a smirk on his face. Kakamei smiled and pointed to Neji.

"I didn't come here for some long conversation because my teammates are waiting for me to fight you but the only thing I wanted you to know is that when the time comes I'll be the one to take you out." Kakamei said confidently before turning and walking away. Neji looked at the kid with a smile before shaking his head and turning away. Tenten spoke up on the conversation with a cheery and joking voice.

"That was different. Someone telling you, the pride of the Hyuga clan, that they're going to beat you in the future." Tenten said as Neji chuckled and walked away.

"It's nothing more than an unthoughtful boast. He wouldn't be able to beat me on his best day." The Hyuga said as the two walked away to the sign up place as they waited for Rock Lee to finish what type of business he had to tend to.

Whiie Kakamei was walking down the hallway back to the place where he had been earlier he walked into the opening to see something that he didn't expect: one of the kids from Neji's team had walked into the room with his team along with an old man who had to be his team teacher. It was a guy who looked nearly exactly like the student. Kakamei watched and tried not to laugh as he watched the two people were standing in front of the team and the old man cried what looked like tears of joy. Kakakemi wanted to walk forward and join his team but he decided to stand back and watch what was happening.

'I guess one of their teammates had the same thought as me and wanted to come and check his competition. I hope they didn't go too overboard.' Kakamei thought as he watched. After a few seconds another surprise happened that he couldn't get past, the sensei of the opposing team simply disappeared out of his vision for less than a second.

Kakamei blinked at the situation for a second before walking out into the light and speaking to his group.

"I was gone for a couple of minutes and all of a sudden our entire squad seems to have gotten entangled with a problem with another team. What happened?" Kakamei asked. Naruto turned and started to scream.

"Watch out Kakamei!T This Bushy Browed guy is saying that he's Kakashi-sensei's rival and that he's better and stronger than Kakashi!" Naruto yelled. Kakamei looked up at the sensei standing in front of them before bowing.

"I'm sorry for any problems that my teammates have caused. We sometimes jump the gun in situations like this." Kakamei said quietly. When he said this the teacher simply smiled and shook his head forcefully.

"Don't even worry about it! It was just playing between teammates. NOW ALL OF YOU! TRY YOUR HARDEST AND SUCCEED IN THIS TOURNAMENT!" He yelled as he poofed into thin air and was quickly followed by his turtle.

Kakamei raised his head and sighed as he walked over to his teammates. Naruto was the first to speak with Sakura right behind him.

"What was that for?! You apologized!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah! You never do things like apologize! Why'd you do that?" Sakura followed. Kakamei shrugged.

"It was better got him to leave like that than to go back to Kakashi-sensei and bad mouth us. There's no telling what type of punishment sensei would give us then." Kakamei said as he turned his attention to Lee, who was bandaging his hands up from the fight.

"So, I'm guessing you're the Lee that Neji was talking about." Kakamei said as Lee nodded.

"Yes, and you're Kakamei Daichiki. You're the talk of the village. A child from the strong Daichiki family that was destroyed by the Village Hidden in the Sand." Lee said plainly. The fact of his clan being wiped out irked him but he let it go. He didn't speak again, which prompted the bowl cut boy to speak to Sasuke.

"Sasuke Uchiha what I said to you earlier was not the complete truth. When I said that I wanted to test my power that was true but it was a lie to say that it was against you. The truth is that there is one more person who is stronger than me. He is a member of my very own team and his name is Neji Hyuga. The child prodigy is praised by the Hyuga clan." Lee said. This caught Sasuke and Naruto off guard because they hadn't thought of something like that. Kakamei stood in silence because he didn't know enough about Lee to know if something like this was right or not.

Kakamei continued to walk for a few more seconds before nodding and walking forward.

"I'm sorry about cutting this little show over quickly but you guys have to speed this up because if we don't get to the exam sign ups in a few minutes then we'll be genin for another year." Kakamei said calmly as Rock Lee took this as a sign and made his way out of the room by jumping up to the rafters and running away.

Kakamei watched as Sasuke struggled about himself when Naruto spoke up sarcastically.

"Mehh, would you look at that. The Uchiha's aren't as impressive as everyone thinks they are." Naruto said as Sasuke turned his head and growled at his teammate. Kakamei just stood quietly and listened to what was happening.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, which annoyed Kakamei.

"Ugh, Shut up! Next time, I'll drive him to his knees!" Sasuke yelled angrily as Naruto made a hmph sign,

"Yeah, coming from someone who just got their butt kicked."Naruto said calmly. Sasuke's face became even more aggressive as he looked at Naruto, who didn't even look scared at all. He simply looked away and started to speak again.

"Well, it's true. You saw his hands didn't you? Bushy Brow probably trains until he passes out. Or at least he trains more than you do." Naruto noted. Sasuke stopped and recalled the speed that the boy had shown to the group before calming down.

Kakamei stood to the side and looked at the two boys before smiling and turning.

"You can train all day but if you're late for what matters then there won't be a reason for it." Kakamei said as he walked off into the hallway. After a few seconds of silence Sasuke turned with a devious smile.

"The Chunin Exams, huh? This thing is starting to get interesting." Sasuke said, which was followed by Naruto and Sakura screaming enthusiastically before starting to move.

"I can't wait to see what's next!" Sasuke said as the squad exited the room. Kakamei smiled as the group walked away and followed out of the door, happy at the development of the Chunin Exams and his team as a whole.


	15. SUBMIT OC'S

**Hey Guys! Subrosians here and I'm here to talk to you guys about the story of Naruto starring my Oc Kakamei Daichiki. There's something that I wanted to ask of you guys. It's to SUBMIT YOUR OC'S! As of late I have been thinking about the future of my story and a majority of it will Oc based so I'm asking you guys to send me Oc's. They can be as strong or as weak as you want. Submit them by sending them in Pm or putting them in the reviews. It doesn't matter. Just send Oc's!**


	16. Chapter 14

As they walked through the door, walking into the light, they stopped in a hallway to see what had been waiting for them. It was none other than their Sensei. Kakashi. When they arrived the four kids all watched as they listened to what their teacher had to say.

"Welcome, now you may finally apply for the Chunin Exams. For you to be a part of these exams every member of the team has to be a part." Kakashi explained as Sakura looked at him in confusion.

"But Kakashi-sensei, you said that it was each of our choices if we wanted to come to the Chunin Exams." Sakura complained as Kakashi nodded in understanding.

"Yes, I said that because I didn't want you to feel that were forced to come because the boys would pressure you." Kakashi said as Kakamei was the next one to speak up.

"Since that's one question that's been answered here's another one, you said that only teams of three would be able to participate in the Chunin Exams. What about us? We have four people in our squad." Kakamei said. Kakashi looked at him with a nod and sighed.

"That again is something that I had to lie about. Even though I gave all four of you tickets only three of you can pass through this door. The one to sit out will not be able to become a Chunin through the exams this year." Kakashi said. This took everyone off guard. Naruto raised his fist and looked at Kakashi as Sasuke watched with an expression of surprise and slight confusion. Sakura was looking down to the floor nervously. Kakamei was the odd one out of the group. He looked on to his sensei with a bland and blank expression.

"What do you mean only three of us can take the test?! We made it here as one team and now you want us to let one of our own teammates sit on the sidelines and watch as we become Chunin!" Naruto yelled, ready to get angry and fight anyone who had come up with this rule but Kakashi lowered his eyes jokingly and raised his hands to calm his student.

"Calm down. You're always jumping the gun when I say things like this. If you were listening I said that the person sitting out would also get a chance to become a Chunin. Just not through the exams." Kakashi said as Sakura looked up hopefully.

"Really?!" She yelled out, which surprised all of the other teammates. Naruto looked at her, almost angry that she had yelled that.

"Why are you saying that Sakura!? Aren't you angry that one of us has to give up the chance to fight at the Chunin exams?" Naruto asked, which the girl replied by shaking her head.

"No, this is better for all of us. You three can go ahead and become Chunin through the exams while I can stay behind and cheer you guys on without becoming a burden." She said quietly. Naruto and Sasuke looked at her as if she was speaking blasphemy.

"But Sakura…" Naruto trailed off. Kakamei spoke up and caught his teammates off guard.

"What are you talking about?" He asked. The other three turned to him with looks of confusion as he smiled and pointed to Kakashi.

"I'll be the one who goes on the mystery test to become a Chunin. It would only make sense." Kakamei said. Naruto jumped into his face and started his screaming.

"What are you talking about?! Now you're spouting nonsense!" He yelled. Kakamei smiled and pushed Naruto back lightly.

"No, it's not nonsense. If anything it makes the most sense. Since the formation of this squad I was the one who was added onto the team because there was one too many people in the graduating class at the academy." The three looked at him with confusion while he simply took a step forward to Kakashi. Naruto grabbed his hand and tried to pull Kakamei back.

"We didn't even talk about it! It wouldn't be fair for you to miss out on everything that's about to come from the Chunin Exams! You should stay and fight to be in the exams." Naruto almost pleaded. Kakamei simply chuckled and kept walking.

"I never said I wasn't going to fight, I'm just taking a different path than you. I'll be watching and cheering from the sidelines so all three of you go out and become Chunin." Kakamei said as he put his fist out and waited for his teammates to reach out and connect.

It took a few seconds of the others looking at each other before they eventually joined. The last one to join was Sasuke, who was looking at Kakamei with a smile.

"You better come back stronger than you are now because if you don't, then we'll leave you behind." Sasuke said confidently and sarcastically. Kakamei chuckled and nodded before pulling his hand out and looking at Kakashi.

"Alright, I'm ready to go now." Kakashi looked down at him, pleased at the decision.

"Ok, if that's what you've chosen then we'll be off. I wish all three of you the best of luck." Kakashi said. Kakamei nodded in agreement and then looked at Sakura.

"Tell Ino I said hello," Kakamei finally said before they poofed into smoke and jumped away from the scene.

A few seconds of silence passed before Naruto walked forward and looked at the door before continuing to walk.

"We'll pass this and become Chunin with KakameI!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke and Naruto yelled a prominent "YEAH!" before the doors opened to the hardest trial that they would have to face in their lives.

Kakashi and Kakamei had been transported out of the school and to the front door of the Hokage. Kakamei looked up at the huge building and the monuments of the Hokage that were on the face of a mountain.

"So, how'd you know that you had to be the one to come with me?" Kakashi asked. Kakamei smiled in response.

"It couldn't have been any of them. They were all too excited to be in the Chunin exams. Plus, since the exams are being held in the village I guessed that the Hokage would be trying to improve their relationship with the other villages. And what better to do that than to send a the only member of a clan with a powerful kekkei genkai to an ally village?" Kakamei answered. Kakashi looked at him in astonishment and confusion for a few seconds before nodding and starting to walk forward.

"You're right. It's impressive that you were able to think of something like that at your age." Kakashi admitted as he opened the door. Kakamei walked through the door.

"It's not that surprising when you consider that I have been shuffled around as a piece of diplomacy all my life." Kakamei said as he waited for Kakashi to walk through the door.

After this there were few words that were spoken as they walked up the steps. They arrived at the door of the Hokage quickly and Kakamei prepared himself to see the Hokage.

Even though Kakamei had been expressly brought to the village because Hiruzen had wanted him there were few chances when Kakamei would actually would actually meet the man. The only times he had ever had a chance to speak with the Kage himself was once a school term when he would have to report his activities and grades to the elders of the village and they would send him home while they contemplated whether they would send him to a different village or let him stay in the village longer, which would obviously end with him staying in the village for another term of school.

When the door opened to the Hokage and the rest of the elders in the village Kakamei saw that it was much different than anything that he could remember the room looked like. The room was empty except for the Hokage himself and two elders who were usually seen by the old man. When Kakamei walked into the room Kakashi closed the door behind him and waited behind the door, only thinking of what type reaction Kakamei would have for his mission. Kakamei simply started the meeting by bowing and showing respect.

"As always it is a pleasure to be in the presence of you three leaders of the village of Konoha." Kakamei said as he continued to hold his head down. Hiruzen smiled at the looks of the child while the elders looked on with plain faces.

"You may stand young man." Sarutobi ordered. Kakamei raised his head to see the old Hokage standing in front of him with a hand out, wanting a hand shake. Kakamei took his lead and shook his hand. The Hokage put his other hand on top of Kakamei's and looked at him with a happy grin.

"I'm very pleased that you agreed to come to meet with me and my counsels. We have selfishly asked of you to leave the Chunin exams and serve a service to your village." He said with a mix of happiness and disappointment, which Kakamei shook his head at.

"No, it's an honour to be asked by the Hokage himself to do a task for the village. Just ask me and I will do it." Kakamei vowed. Sarutobi nodded and took a step back and reached his hand to the left side, which was the female counsel. She handed him an envelope with a special seal that looked like a leaf on it.

Hiruzen took the letter and handed it off to Kakamei, who looked at it for a few seconds before opening it. He took the letter out to expose a piece of paper that was folded into three pieces. When he unfolded it. It was three paragraphs filled with details of his mission. Kakamei looked at it for a few seconds before getting the gist of the message and folding it and attempting to put in his pocket. Before he could the male elder stopped by letting out a booming, "NO!" that shook Kakamei more than he thought. The Daichiki turned his head up quickly and saw that the man was holding a fireball in his hand.

"Once you have read the contents of your mission thoroughly then you must destroy the papers that held the message itself." The old man said. Kakamei looked at him with a look of anger and annoyance that was covered by the blank and plain face that he tried to hold during the entire meeting. But, in that instance his entire face was changed slightly enough for the elders to take notice.

Kakamei took the route of simply following directions and reading it.

The contents of the mission were fairly simple sounding:

He would be escorted to the Village Hidden in the Clouds by Anbu Ninja

Once there he would meet with the Raikage

Meet the Jinchuriki of the Village

Return to the Village Hidden in the Leaves safely

Relay any unusual movements throughout the village that he noticed

These were the terms of the mission in shorter terms than the paper held. Kakamei read through this calmly before nodding and handing the message to the elder, who burned the paper. Kakamei, once again, bowed to the leaders of the village and spoke humbly.

"Thank you for entrusting me to something so precious to the village. I will try my hardest to accomplish this mission quickly and return." Kakamei said, which made the Hokage smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Kakamei. As consultation for you participating, if you are able to complete this mission then you will be granted the title of a Chunin. This is your test that the other genin of the village could not complete." The Hokage said. Kakamei nodded at this fact before turning and walking out of the room. When he walked into the hallway he noticed that Kakashi had left and that he would be walking out of the place alone.

He started the long stretch that was getting back to the outside. During this period of around 5 minutes Kakamei was able to dive into his thoughts about why the village would send him, why was he going to the Village Hidden in the Clouds, and who was going to be guiding him to the place.

'Why did they pick me for this? It would have been better to send a discreet team of Anbu to the village to get more information than just some simple genin. I get that it's a sign of trust between the villages but it just doesn't make sense. Why would I look for a jinchuriki? Those are supposed to be hated by everyone in a village. There are exceptions to the rules but for the Hidden Leaf Village to send me to the village just to find dirt on this person. And in the end if I'll be going to the village who will be my chaperones? The village needs as much help as it can get protecting the Chunin Exams so who would be not needed enough to leave the village but strong enough to infiltrate a village like the Village Hidden in the Clouds?' Kakamei thought to himself. Before he could continue he was cut off by the sound of someone yelling, "HEY!" into his ear. At first he jumped at the yelling before realizing that it was Kakashi trying to get his attention.

"Sorry sensei! I was thinking and I couldn't hear you." Kakamei apologized. Kakashi looked at him with a sympathetic look.

"Look, just calm down. I know all about your situation." The teacher said with a softer voice than normal, which caught Kakamei off guard. He was used to Kakashi being stale and harsh but now he seemed to be genuinely interested in his situation.

"When I was only a year older than you, I became an Anbu shinobi. When I first started I tried to understand every single that the village took and after a while I eventually had to stop before I went you only have a very limited, nearly minute, amount of information it's almost impossible to see the largest picture without losing your mind," Kakashi said calmly. Kakamei looked at him with a soft look, appreciating what his teacher was saying before he continued.

"Well, you might want to continue to think like that because you're so young but remember that you are only one person. You can't do an entire mission on your own. I know better than anyone." Kakashi advised. Kakamei looked at him for a few seconds before talking.

"Thank you sensei. That really helped me." He responded. Kakashi nodded and started talking again.

"Now that that is out of the way," Kakashi said, back to his normal blank voice, "I have already met and given approval to the Anbu who are going to be your escorts. They'll pick you from your house in exactly three hours before you set off for your destination. You'll only be there for 5 days so you need to make the most of those 5 days and depending on the way you handle yourself you may be able to get yourself higher in the shinobi ranking and maybe be able to become an Anbu sooner than the average person." Kakashi said factually. Kakamei nodded and listened for more of this wisdom but Kakashi sighed and then turned around.

"That's the rest of what you need to know about your mission. Go home and get ready for the mission." Kakashi said as he poofed away into smoke. Kakamei watched as the smoke completely faded from his view and then turned to walk home. After a few seconds of walking Kakamei's ego flamed like a wildfire and he clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood.

"Sensei! You want me to take orders from old people like that with no insight or knowledge as to what I'm doing?! I'll never be someone who's as dumb as that!?' Kakamei yelled in his mind as he walked away.

Standing on the top of the Hokage balcony Kakashi and Sarutobi leaned on the rails and watched as Kakamei walked away from the scene. Kakashi shook his head at the boy who was walking away.

"Hokage-sama, are you that Kakamei is ready for something like this? I trust that the guards you have given him will be helpful but to be honest I don't think that Kakamei is mentally prepared for something like going to a village to spy on the Two Tailed Beast's host." Kakashi complained. Sarutobi acknowledged the worrying by nodding and blowing out smoke from his mouth.

"You say that but we gave you the chance to become Chunin and Jonin at such young ages and you turned out to be one of the strongest assets that the village has to offer. If we are going to invest into the next generation of the world we have to allow them to gain the experience of the real world" The Hokage said as he turned his back on the boy. Kakashi watched Kakamei continue to walk before turning and following the Hokage back into the building.

Right on the dot of the third hour that Kakashi specified. When he opened the door, there were two tall figures standing in front of him. He walked through the door with only a backpack and a water bottle in his hand, which was pretty much empty.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei told me about you guys. He trusts you so I'll trust you too. Let's go. The trip should be long so I want to get it over as fast as possible." Kakamei said plainly. The Anbu didn't respond to what he had to say, they simply turned around and started to walk away, towards the front of the village and out into the world. Kakamei walked after them until they reached the front of the village, when the Anbu actually started to speak to him.

"Leave your backpack here." The man said. Kakamei looked at him with a confused look.

"Come on. If we don't leave now we won't make it until tomorrow and we need as much time as possible. If we depart for the Hidden Clouds now we can make it before dark." She said. Kakamei continued to look at them with a continuous stare of confusion before talking.

"Why do I have to leave my things? I won't have anything to wear when we make it there." Kakamei asked. The woman shook her head.

"Leave everything that isn't mandatory. If you don't we may be able to be tracked by things dropped or the strong scents left by owned possessions." She said calmly. Kakamei continued to look at her, but with a look of upsetness before sighing and dropping his bag by the side of the village doors.

"Fine, but if it's not here when I get back then I'm going to want compensation for anything that was in this bag." Kakamei complained. The two Anbu nodded, not to Kakamei's agreement but to each other that it was time to go. They both jumped into the trees and left Kakamei behind, mumbling to himself.

"Now everything I put into the bag is going to get stolen." Kakamei said before jumping into the sky and landing on a branch and started to catch up to the Black Ops.

 **Hours Later**

After only about three hours of traveling the three made it to the gates of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Kakamei actually landed for a few seconds later because he couldn't completely catch up with the ninja who were in front of him, showing just how fast the Anbu ninja actually were. But, Kakamei landed in front of the village, observing everything around him, he noticed that the village was much different from his "home" village. The Leaf had been centered right next to a cliff that was surrounded by barriers of water and rock prefectures poking out all over the place. He looked in amazement at the difference that he had seen from the two villages but something else was pulling him as well.

``I've never been here but something is different… it feels like something else is here for me… I needed to be here.' He thought to himself. He went to take a step into the village but was stopped by the male Anbu's hand, which crossed his chest. Kakamei looked up at him to see that he was shaking his head. Kakamei watched as the man bent over and picked up a rock and tossed it into the village. Nothing happened to the rock itself but in less than a second two more Anbu popped out of nowhere and with kunai in hand.

Kakamei tried to stand his ground because he didn't want to look weak in front of the rivals of his village but when they landed in front of him he took a step backwards before being stopped by the man's hand once again. The ninja were far enough away for the Leaf ninja to speak without being heard.

"Don't falter. We are the representatives of the village. We can not back down from any other ninja village." The man whispered. Kakamei caught his composure quickly and nodded.

"Thank you." He whispered back and watched as the ninja walked forward.

"I'm guessing that this is Kakamei Daichiki, who had been requested by the Two-Tails Jinchuuriki Yugito Nii-sama." One of the ninjas said proudly. Kakamei looked at the ninja now and noticed that they looked very similar to the average Anbu officers. They had masks covering their faces with their shinobi ties wrapped on their foreheads. One of the men was wearing all black with a simple ninja outfit while the other one wore the same thing except his was in red. Kakamei looked at him and then started to speak.

"Yes, I am Kakamei Daichiki." Kakamei explained as the men walked forward and ignored the boy and stopped at the two Leaf Anbu respectively.

"Yes, this is him." The woman said. Kakamei grumbled to himself and waited for his time to speak again. The man who was standing in front of the man nodded and pointed to the forest.

"We will deliver him once again to the front of the gate in 5 days. You may come to pick him up on that day at 12:30 in the morning." The man said. The Anbu from the Leaf nodded and jumped off into the trees silently before the two Anbu looked down at Kakamei, who could only see their eyes.

"Now can I speak?" Kakamei asked, which seemed to feel annoyed by the kid. One of the men walked forward and ignored him while the other one looked down at Kakamei.

"Watch your mouth. If you keep running it when you're not supposed to then you may not make it back to your village in one piece." The man said confidently. Kakamei scoffed and walked forward.

"I don't know who you think you are but I don't think dogs of the Kage should speak out more than needed either. Now take me to the Two-Tailed Jinchuuriki." Kakamei said as he followed the first man. As he was walking forward and followed the Anbu in front of him even though he could feel the killing intent from the ninja behind him.

'Ok, now that I'm in the village I don't think that I can have outbursts like that again. If other ninja have tempers like him then I won't last very long. I still have to show the strength of Leaf without going too far. I have to either become more powerful or find the sweet spot for teasing this village without starting a war by talking. Kakamei thought to himself as he walked between the two ninja. He walked along the path until he made it to where he was supposed to meet this infamous Two-Tails Jinchuriki.

'This is the only person to hold a Tailed Beast and if she's anything like Naruto then this'll be easy.' Kakamei thought to himself as he walked past village buildings that were much different than those of the Leaf. They were made to resist flooding and strong winds so they were tall and thin compared to the flats of the Leaf.

They travelled through the village until they arrived at a thin bridge and that was surrounded by the calm waters. The ninja in front of him stopped moving forward across the bridge and turned their attentions to Kakamei. He noticed this and reached into the only thing the Anbu had allowed him to bring on the trip, his ninja pouch, and pulled out a kunai.

The man who was backtracking to get to Kakamei raised his hands to show no hostility.

"I don't know what's about to happen but I can tell I won't like it." Kakamei said. The two ninja walked into earshot and the one behind him started to speak.

"You have been brought to this village by the wishes of out great, Master Yugito. Because of this request we can already guess as to what she has planned for you." He said with a hint of comedic effect in his voice, which made Kakamei slightly nervous.

'What does he mean by 'What she has planned for me?' He thought to himself before the two ninja blurred from his sight, or more that he wasn't able to see them, or anything for that matter. The only thing that he could feel was the pain rushing from his left arm and the wind pushing against his face as he flew through the air. He tried to flip and land on the ground but instead he sipped across the water before slamming against one of the rocks. He could barely move from this one attack. The kunai he had been holding had been dropped from his hand and his mind was in a rush to find what had done this to him but also wondering where the attack had come from.

'What the hell was that?! From just a single attack I think my left shoulder's been dislocated and i can barely feel it.' Kakamei thought as he pulled himself out of the hole in the rock that he created and flipped himself onto the wall and used his newly taught chakra control to hold himself to the side of the less of a rock and more of a boulder that was protruding from the water. He grabbed another kunai from his pouch and closed it as he watched the scene that was in front of him.

Standing on the bridge were the two ninja who had escorted him there and another person, a woman, who was talking to both people. She looked at the boy who was standing on the wall, and from what Kakamei could make out from the distance was that she pointed at him before nodding. That was when she proceeded to say something to the two people before they both jumped out into the distance away from sight, not to be seen again.

Kakamei kept his eye on the woman as he tried to come up with a plan to fight the woman but before he could make another move she disappeared from his line of sight. Out of instinct he threw a backwards kick and moved forward and did three backflips before ending on the edge of the rock. When landed on his feet and caught sight of the woman he could see that he was right to do this as the woman had been standing behind him but he hadn't landed the kick. Kakamei rushed forward to fight head on, to see if the gap between them was as large as he thought.

When he ran up the rock and readied himself for a swipe of his kunai to her neck he was stopped. Not because he was bound by a jutsu but because he wasn't able to see his opponent, instead he was looking at the afterimage of a blue chakra. He took a jump backwards and tried to summon chakra.

Only after a second of amassing chakra a voice spoke to him in his ear.

"You can move quickly but you don't seem to be able to use your chakra very well. Let's see how much punishment you can take." The woman's surprisingly calming voice said as Kakamei tried to respond by swiping his kunai but before he could get the attack off she stopped the momentum of his body by sweep kicking his leg and throwing him off balance. As he fell to the ground the woman clasped her hands together and hit Kakamei in the chest, not only slamming onto the rock but straight through it. He was sent flying through the water quickly.

Once again the useless kunai that he had in his hand had dropped somewhere across the "battlefield" even though it could barely be called that.

'Damn, I can't get a break. I need to get this under control. If I could use Scorch Release then I could win. I just need a while to get it ready.' He thought to himself as he let himself float through the water, trying to give himself the most amount of time to gather chakra. Twenty seconds had passed before Kakamei had become immersed in gathering chakra that he hadn't noticed anything going on outside of the water.

'Just a little longer. I just need a few more seconds and I'll be able to use it.' Kakaei said as he could feel the same fire in his body that had happened when he was running to the battlefield during the fight with Zabuza. This time he would be able to conjure it on purpose.

'GOT I—' He tried but when he opened his eyes he almost wanted to go back to the safety of his mind that he was in when he was gathering chakra.

On the outside of the water he could see a huge red orb of fire looming over his body. Before he could move an inch this fire catastrophe zoomed directly down on top of him. The water became steaming, which was rare for Kakamei as he was usually unfazed by the heat of anything. The water that was boiling around him now was different from anything he had ever experienced. He could feel the screaming of his skin as he felt the water.

Kakamei's mind was rushing and becoming foggy from the pain and the unexpected shock of his body be agonizingly hot. The only thing that drove him from this point on was not his determination to win this fight, escape, or his wanting to defeat an enemy this strong. The thing that took over now was his simple urge to fight. Even though he knew that he couldn't win he could at least go out with a bang. This was something that could only be compared to the feelings that he had when he fought against Haku. The urge to destroy whoever he was fighting.

The woman who was standing on top of the water was watching the bottom of the water, waiting for something to happen.

"Where's he at? That Daichiki should be acting up right about now." She said as she watched a single red point in the water become more and more visible until Kakamei burst out of the water. A huge column of water came up and to try and hide his presence. The woman smiled at this attempt and jumped back a few feet.

"That's what I was waiting on. Show me what you can do with the Scorch Release." She said confidently as she looked at the water column and waited for Kakamei to jump out. He didn't jump out and walked forward to test it but before she could she raised her two arms into an X and covered her head to block the knee that Kakamei came down from the sky with. She pushed Kakamei away and watched as three balls of pure heat came from his hand and blew away from his body and toward her. Before the balls could make it to her body the woman created a wall of fire that stopped all three of the red balls. She jumped into the sky and watched as Kakamei tried to create more of those balls while he was floating in the air. Instead of allowing him to do this she raised her hands and weaved a combination that Kakamei was familiar with.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" She yelled as she took a breath and rained down a huge ball of fire that was the same as the fireball that she had thrown earlier. When Kakamei noticed this he was nearing the surface of the water and weave the signs for a fire ball jutsu but there wasn't enough time. The only thing he was able to do was to cover his body in a shell of fire and tried to protect himself from the opposing fire.

The thing about Kakamei's fire was that it was not normal fire but it was Scorch Release fire that he had changed slightly to be tailored for his own body. A technique he had been saving for the Chunin exams. After a few seconds of waiting for the water to cool Kakamei swam to the surface of the water to catch his breath. The moment he surfaed the woman's hand grabbed him by the face and picked him up out of the water.

Kakamei's vision became blurry and his muscles had become relaxed. His body had reached its limit and he could barely move at this point. Something about this woman seemed to drain everything out of him. When he tried to reach out and punch the woman it was a useless attempt as she simply let go of his face and as he dropped through the air she kicked in the stomach. This, once again, sent him flying through the sky and landing into one of the other pillars of rock and passed out. His head fell and the woman who he was facing walked across the water and until she was standing in front of Kakamei. She looked at the unconscious boy with a smile and grabbed him by his shirt.

"This should be fun." She said as she jumped from the water and onto the bridge and walked back into the village.


	17. Chapter 15

Morning came quicker than usual as the sun beamed onto Kakamei's eyes. When he opened his eyes he had to take in the entire situation that was in:

He had woken up looking up into the sun

He wasn't sleeping on the ground but drifting on something rather hard

He had a massive headache

He had fought someone yesterday that had completely overwhelmed him

With this he moved himself to sit up and looked at his surroundings. It didn't look like much when he looked at his surroundings he noticed that it was the same place he had fought that woman yesterdar. The bridge that he had arrived to before he was attacked was now filled with villagers. Kakamei jumped up into the air and looked down on the log that he had been riding and sighed.

"You have to be kidding me." He said as he landed on the log again and tried to jump away before he could land on the bridge a hand reached out and smacked him in the face and sent him flying back into the water.

After a few seconds of being under water Kakaei emerged to the woman that he had fought yesterday, who was standing in front of him with a smile. Now that he wasn't fighting for his life he was able to see this woman for what she was. She had long, straight, blonde, hair bound with taut bandages, dark eyes and she wore red lipstick. She wore a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants, both of which had a design similar to clouds on them, purple fingerless gloves and a chain of blue beads wound around her left hand. She also wore the standard Kumogakure forehead protector, sandals and a kunai holster, which was strapped to her right thigh. She also wore bandages around her arms and legs as well as a red belt around her waist.

'She's actually good looking. It's surprising that she beat me so bad last night.' Kakamei thought as he looked up to her. She had a huge smile and reached out her hand.

"My name is Yugito Nii. I'm the Two-Tailed Jinchuriki of the Village Hidden in the Cluds." She said calmly. Kakamei looked at her suspiciously before grabbing her hand and got pulled up.

"Thank you. My name is Kakamei Daichiki but I think you know that. You requested me to come to the village to meet with me. I didn't think that you would automatically come and fight me." Kakamei said as she pulled him out of the water and put him back onto the log that he had been sleeping on.

When Kakamei was able to stand up by himself he looked up at the woman with a serious face as she simply smiled and looked down on him.

"So, why did you go out of your way to get me from the Village Hidden in the Leaf? I was pulled from the Chunin Exams and was forced to make a nonstop trip to meet you. For what reason?" Kakamei asked. The woman looked at him for a few moments of disappointment before picking her smile back up. Kakamei took note of this facial expression before leaving it alone for the moment and watched as she answered.

"I wanted to see what the last member of Daichiki clan was made of. Now that I see you, you're much more underwhelming than what I expected." She said. Kakamei looked at her in annoyance as she smiled and waved her hand.

"What is that supposed to mean? And how are you connected with the Daichikis?" Kakamei asked. Yugito waved her hand.

"You're asking a lot of questions for someone who could be a political prisoner by the Hidden Cloud Village. But, I'll answer one and then if you satisfy me then I'll answer any question that you have." She said as Kakamei nodded.

"I called you here becuase I wanted to know what kind of strength that you possesed but now I've noticed that you were anything more than someone with wasted potential. For the five days that you have in the village I'll be training you." Yugito said,which caught Kakamei off guard.

"You want to train me? I didn't know the reason why I came here but for something like this didn't even cross my mind." Kakamei said as he looked at him with a weaker smile than she had before and nodded.

"Well, that's what it is. For now, you'll be my pupil. Within the next four days I'm going to teach you how to control your chakra well enough to use your Scorch Release more consistently and more quickly applicated." She stated. Kakamei looked at her with a look of childly disbelief. Yugito smiled at this and nodded and started to walk around him and talk to him about his faults.

"Look, even though you were able to use it when you fought me yesterday I was able to see all of your shortcomings. They were so obvious by the way you fought and composde yourself during the fight that I was able to tell that you depend on your physical ability to pick up the slack that you leave behind by your lack of chakra control. Even though you have massive amounts of chakra you have no way to tap into that reservoir and because of that you might not be able to fight to yourself and might even lose your life." She said as she stopped walking around Kakamei and pushed on the log he was walking on and made him drop into the water.

Kakmei swam to the top of the water and looked up at the woman with annoyance as he was growing tired that he was being thrown into the water repeatedly. Yugito kicked up the log up into the air and sliced it into a cane and used it to tap her foot.

"You seem very observant so I think you noticed that I'm standing on water." She said as Kakamei looked at her feet and the ripples of water that came from her feet. Kakamei looked at them in thought. She picked her feet up and showed him the chakra that was pushing from his feet.

"Since you already know how to walk on the side of trees and rock surfaces but now you're going to learn the ultimate chakra control practice. When you are standing on water it's different because you have to focus on changing the amount of chakra every moment to the surface on the water. With this you can start your way to using your Kekkei Genkai." She said. Kakamei looked up at her with a look of surprise and interest as swam to one of the rocks while Yugito smiled and walked after him.

When he made it to the rock he walked onto it and concentrated for a few seconds before trying to take a step into the water. Instead of instantly following his new teacher's lead he not only fell into the water but a column of water flew into the sky as he fell in. Yugito smiled and waited for him to come up from the water. When he came up from the water he spit out a stream of water from of his mouth.

"If you use too much chakra then that'll happen but if you don't use enough chakra then you'll fall into the water. This'll help you gauge the amount of chakra to use in your jutsu." She said as Kakamei walked up the rock and started to walk again.

 _ **HOURS LATER**_

Three hours later the sun was now as hot as it was going to get throughout the day and the trainer and student were still standing outside and anticipating every single time Kakmaei took a step out onto the water, waiting for the right chance for him to touch the water and not sink.

Once again he stepped out onto the water and another column of water flew out and he sunk into the water. Kakamei became angry that he wasn't able to get it and jumped back onto the water and punched the air. Yugito smiled and raised her hands at him and sat down on the top of the water.

"Listen, if you get too riled up then you won't be able to concentrate and that won't get you anywhere. Calm yourself down and then try again," She advised. Kakamei looked at her with an angry face before groaning out loud and then went back to concentrating.

This time Kakamei concentrated at the movements of the water and how fast it moved he took a step out onto the water, only one foot. The foot that he stepped out was able to stay above the water without sinking. This made Yugito anticipate what the next step was going to turn out like.

When he stepped out and put his feet to the water he tried to balance himself and for a few seconds he managed to do just that. He stood on top of the water and looked at the calm water below him and smiled. He looked over to see Yugito's reaction. He expected to see her standing there with a huge grin on her face, happy to see that her rushed student was somewhat of a prodigy for being able to do something like learn how ot control his chakra so quickly. Instead Kakamei watched as she shook her head.

"Master! I did it! You should be happy that I was able ot master this fast. I thought it would take atleast all five days before I was able to get the basics!" Kakamei yelled at the woman. Yugito looked at him in disappoint at what he was doing and walked so that he was in arms reach and puched him. This confused him because he hadn't been expecting her to do this but instead of just being pushed back he sunk into the water.

The water's surface became wild and rough as Kakamei swam up to the surface to see the woman standing over him. He jumped out of the water and landed on the side of the rock. Instead of saying something the woman kicked Kakmaei off of the rock and flying across the water until he sunk into the water and popping back out. This angered the boy to the point of yelling.

"Master Yugito! What the hell was that?! I thought you would be happy!" He yelled at her. Yugito jumped from her point of being in front of the rock to being in front of him. Kakamei was now in the midpoint of the water, between the rock and the bridge.

"You now won't be allowed to stand on the rock as a starting point." She said calmly.

"Why not!?"

"Becuase you're getting complacent. When you were standing on the water just onwo you weren't changing your chakra to the water, the water was still for a few seconds so you managed to keep a steady chakra flow without changing it."

Kakamei thought for a second before sighing and trying to jump out of the water but before he could the woman chopped him on his shoulder, plunging him back into the water.

"Now, you won't be able to jump out of the water. The only way you'll be able to get out of the water is by climbing out of the water while disrupting the flow by moving. By completing this you will be able to move on to the next part of your training." She said calmly. Kakamei looked at her angrily before trying to get put his hand on the water to pull his hand up but when his fingers and arm movements disrupted the water Kakamei couldn't get the chakra amount right for the first touch and hsi hand pushed right through the water's top and splashed into his face. Yugito smiled at this and jumped back a few meters before sitting back down on the water's surface and waiting for Kakamei's next break through.

 _ **HOURS LATER**_

After houes and hours of trying to [ush himself out of the water with his hand and failing Kakamei had grown tired and hubgry. Not only had he not been able to leave the water but not promitited to eat during his training until he was able to get a hang of the water walking technique.

It had grown dark and Kakamei was ready to turn in for the night and get back to the grinding stone tomorrow but instead of sharing the same sentiment Yugito shook her hadn and pointed at the rising moon.

"You don't get to eat, sleep, or rest until you have mastered the water chakra technique. What happened to the self proclaimed prodigy from earlier? A prodigy that can't comprehend the technique used for something likw this then you won't ever be able to master your Kekkei Genkai! Get your act together so we can move on." She yelled. Kakamei jumped at this and continued to focus and try to claw his way out of the water time and time again.

 _ **HOURS LATER**_

When the moon had gone back into it's rest and the sun was making its way back into the sky the light of the morning showed something that was a much better scene than what was shown at night. Now, Kakamei was standing on top of the water and thinking about how hungry he was and the hurt in his arms.

Yugito watched him with a smile on her face. She jumoed to her feet and wlaked to him, making the boy slightly jittry, knowing that she was going to try something. When she was standing in front of him Kakamei flinched backwards slightly. The toothy grin on Yugito's face stayed as she started to speak.

"Alright. The first part of your training is complete, although it was a little rushed, but you managed to survive. To be honest, I thought you would pass out or give up because of not being able to eat but you managed to pass. Congratulations." She said with eagerness in her voice. Kakamei looked at her with extreme happiness and jumped into the air.

"LET'S GO! I CAN WALK ON WATER!" He yelled into the morning sky. Yugito smiled and turned to walk away, waiting for Kakamei to follow along. This didn't happen though. While he was falling from his happy jump he closed his eyes and passed out, falling towards the water. Before he was able to hit the surface of the water a huge tail-like wave of chakra came from Yugito's back and caught the Daichiki boy. She continued to walk away as the boy floated behind her.

"Welp, that's one day down. The next trial he has to overcome should be much tougher… but who knows? Maybe he'll pass that one with flying colors too." She said to herself as she jumped onto the bridge and hopped onto the large rocks that were popping out of the water.

 _ **SIX HOURS LATER**_

Six hours passed before Kakamei woke up. He sat up on the hard bed that he had been lying on, which was only a flat rock with a blanket convering him. He was surrounded by nothing but the sight of black. There was no light and there was no sound other than the trickling of water in the distance. He had a huge headache that made him want to throw up all over the place.

"Where am I now? And where's Master Yugito?" He asked himself, which made him wince in pain from his headache, which brought his attention to his stomach, he was starving. He hadn't eaten anything since he started the devilish training that he had started. His stomach rumbled loud enough to make him embarrassed if he were in a room full of people.

"Well, there's not much I can do right now. I don't know where anything that I own is and it's so dark in here I don't know if I'm going outside or what. Now that I think about it… am I in a cave?" He thought aloud. Kakamei tried to walk around and find a way out of here but after only taking a few seconds he hit his foot on something hard. He fell down in a ball and gripped his toes. They were throbbing from the pain when he heard the footsteps of someone walking towards him. Kakamei went to jump up, but before he could the light from a fire came up out of nowhere and his ridiculous position was shown. He was sitting on the ground, holding his foot with a hand on his mouth, which was probably keeping him from screaming.

After a few seconds of shock Kakamei jumped up from his lying position on the ground to standing sraight up and looking at the person who had lit the fire, who was no less than his sensei. She was standing in front of him with a smirk on her face. She was holding bags in her hands. They were paper bags with different vegetables and meats, waiting to be cooked. Kakamei looked at these and jumped to grab one but when he reached his hand out Yugito's foot raised from her side and kicked downwards onto Kakamei's head and forced his face right into the ground. Kakamei jumped up and grabbed his head, groaning.

"Sensei! Why'd you do that?!" He asked loudly. Yugito shook her head.

"You have to be kidding me. I don't get a hello or a thank you? You just grab for the food when you see me." She said angrily. Kakamei gripped his head and stood up straight and bowed.

"Hello sensei! I would also like to thank you for helping me to… wherever we are!" Kakaemi said as he stayed bowed. Yugito chuckled and handed the bags forward.

"Here. Take these bags. There's food and clothes in here. Change out of those clothes or you'll start to stink from the water in them." She said. Kakamei's head shot up and he grabbed the food out of her hands and started to seperate the food so he could see what he could cook. When he found the clothes that he was supposed to wear he went back into the darkness and changed.

Yugito smiled as the kid walked back out in the new clothes that he was supposed to wear, which was only a pair of pants that were fitted for him and a pair of shoes that were all black. Kakamei's face was straight as he walked out of the darkness. His eyes were low as he walked into the ligth of his master, who was wearing her usual smile.

"You have to be kidding me." Kakamei said as Yugito chuckled and shook her head.

"It's for easier mobility while you're training. You'll be able to move faster and more freely." She said/ Kakamei shook his head and started pushing his hands through his hair.

"Whatever. Let's eat. I'm starving." Kakamei said. Yugito nodded and put her index and middle finger up sharply and summoned a small, fierce fire. She flicked her hand around the room, sending fire around and sparking matches that were all around the room. The dark room that they were in lit up like the morning. Kakamei's eyes followed her hand, taking in the scene around him.

The room was very simple. There was only a stove, a bed that was made of rock, counter that was also made of a different type of rick that he had seeen before, and about seven or eight torches that were around the room that were crackling at the moment. Kakamei looked at the room and smiled before shaking his head.

"Should we start tacooking?" Kakamei asked. Yugito nodded and picked up the food and started to think of things to cook. Kakamei watched her from the back before passing her and walking towards the entrance of the cave.

When he made it to the outside he saw a vew of the village that was beautiful. They were high enough off the surface of the water to see everything in the village. Kakamei looked down as the lights off the water made a radiant shine on the rest of the village. He could see the people of the village all walking on the water and moving as if it were regualr business. Kakamei was amazed at the view but he was also confused about why they were so high, and far away from the village. He walked back into the building and stood behind his teacher as she was standing in front of the counter and chopped the vegetables and layed the meat out. Kakakmei walked over to see a pot filled with water, that he didn't know where he pulled it out of or where the water had come from. He walked to the other side of the counter and smiled.

"Yugito-sensei, do you like living up here?" Kakamei asked. Yugito continued to chop the vegetables as she answered.

"Yes, from what you just saw, the view is beautiful and with it I'm able to see everything in the village, in case of an emergency." She said. Kakamei looked at her for a few seconds as she finnshed chopping an onion and threw it into the water.

"But, you could live in the village below. You could interact iwth the people down there. The people who you're watchig over." Kakamei said calmly. Yugito smiled and shook her head as she finished up with the last vegetable and started on the meat.

"From what I was told, you were here to do spying on the village but you don't seem to know anything." She said nonchalantly. Kakamei's face went pale as he thought of what to do next.

'What should I do?! They told me that I was supposed to discreetly find things out about the village and now they know all about what I'm doing here. What should I do?!' He yelled in his mind. Without even having to look uop from her cutting Yugito could laready tell what was going on his mind.

"You're really an ameatuer. I thought you would be some kid who was a prodigy in every aspect of the word. But, it seems like you really are an inexperienced kid with a strong kekkei genkai." Yugito said. Kakamei reached down to grab a kunai but realized he had forgotten to put it on his new pants. He was now weaponless and standing in front of a woman who was leagues above him.

'Ahhh fuck. I don't have any kunai. She's stronger than me with way more experience. If I'm going to make it out of here then I'm going to have to out think this woman. Even that I won't be able to do.' Kakamei thought, formulating a plan. Yugito reached her hand below what Kakamei could see and before Kakamei could make a single move she had already moved her hand to the top of the counter, with a kunai pressed again the surface of the counter.

"If you're looking for a kunai to fight me then fine, here's one right here." She said as she tossed it at him. Kakamei caught it and looked at it for a few seconds before looking up at her as she put the meat and put the chopped meat into the water, which was now covered in different types of vegetables and meat. She covered the pot with a lid, which once again, Kakamei didn't see her pull out of anywhere. She turned her attention to Kakamei with a smirk.

"Look, we guessed that you were gonna come here to spy. Don't worry. If we were worried about you getting any important information about the village then we would have killed all of you before you made it close to the village." She said. Kakamei looked at her and the back down at the kunai before nodding.

"Then why did you let me into your village? If you knew I was a spy?" He asked.

"Like I said, you're not a threat when it comes to information leakage. Besides, with a Kekkei Genkai as powerful as that we want to try to persuade you to come to our village." Kakamei looked at her for a few seconds, with every second making his face become more and more anger filled.

"I'll never leave Konoha!" He said proudly. The woman smiled and leaned onto the counter and looked down on him.

"I figured as much. A kid, who's as naive as you, wouldn't want to leave his village." She said. Kakamei grunted.

"I'm not naive. I just don't want to leave the security of the Leaf to come to the Village Hidden in the Clouds. I've heard the stories of how you are always power hungry and trying to find some type of way to overpower the other villages. You even have to jinchurikis. That's more than any other village." Kakamei pointed out. Yugito nodded and sighed.

"Yep, the views of the village are always to gain more power through any means. We atre transparent with out flaws. Unlike the Leaf that you follow. They have their own secrets that they would never alloweven their own citizens to know of." She mentioned.

"Yes, but that's for the sake of the villagers. It's the burden of the ninja to take all of those secrets." Kakamei said. Yugito chuckled at his answer.

"That's very mature of you to ssay. But there's a difference between being able to say something so deep and being able to carry those burdens." Yugito said. Kakamei smiled and closed his eyes.

"If you have nothing other than your life to lose then there isn't much holding you back from saying them and doing it is there?" Kakamei asked. Yugito frowned and shook her head.

"With only your life to lose? You should cherish your life above anything else on the planet. You only get one. Don't waste it on your unreasonable ways of thinking as to what a shinobi should have to do for villagers to live quietly." Yugito said with a slight more urgency in her voice tan what she usually did, which made Kakamei smile..

'She's sensitive about the prospect of death. Has she lost her family or has she simply lost ninja comrades from protecting the people of the village? I don't want to push too far. She is my teacher after all.' Kakmaei thought. The silence that she had invoked made Yugito uneasy, making her switch the concept of the conversation slightly.

"You're only a genin who's only now leaving the village. What do you know of things that the shinobi have to suffer?" She asked. Kakamei scrunched his face.

"I know all about the exterminations of hundreds of ninja, destroying of clans, smaller ninja villages with smaller influence being completely silenced and wiped off the face of the planet. I know because I have read about and witnessed it myself." Kakamei said strongly. Yugito looked at her student with a slight look of disappointment before shaking her head.

"Something you've grown into." She said. Kakamei looked at her blankly for a few momrnts before changing his attention to the pot of food.

"Shouldn't be too long before it's ready now. I hope it tastes as good as it looks." Kakamei joked. Yugito seemed to ignore the commment for a few seconds before turning to the pot with her usual smile.

"I make this meal all the time. It's really good." She said. Kakamei rolled his eyes and smiled back at her.

"I hope so."


End file.
